Uber becoming popular gig work for retirees

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

When you think gig worker, a bearded millennial in a scruffy grey T-shirt springs to mind.

But driving part-time for online taxi companies is growing in popularity among retired people.

Semi-retired Uber driver Graham Maclean, 68, who lives in Karaka, south of Auckland says he preferred to work part-time as it gave him the perfect mix of socialisation and flexibility to live his life.

'I live out in the country, so Uber is a nice to have for some people time,' Maclean said.

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Semi-retired Graham Maclean, 68, says he enjoys the flexibility that comes with driving for ride share apps and the meeting new people.

'Sometimes I might go several weeks without doing anything, sometimes I do it full time for a few weeks. Up to 60 hours a week.'

Maclean had been a business owner for many years and started driving for Uber 18 months ago after winding down his importing business.

'I have a son in Wellington and another in the South Island, so I can spend time with them when I want without having to get permission from anyone,' Maclean said.

Although Maclean received the pension he said he could not stop working.

Phil De Buyzer, 63, is a full time Uber and Ola driver and has no plans of taking up full time retirement when his 65th birthday rolls around.

'I hate sitting around, that's one of the wonderful things about Uber. You can make reasonable money through Uber but you're never going to get rich driving for them, lets be honest.'

On those that week he worked, Maclean said he opted for peak hours to take advantage of surge pricing.

The pension for a single person living alone is $411 a week after tax and $633 a week for a a couple.

Christchurch-based Phil De Buyzer started driving for Uber three years ago when he retired from a 45 years in construction.

De Buyzer said he knew many other semi-retired drivers who had taken up driving for online taxi companies to top up their pension.

While the 63-year-old still had two years before he could be eligible for superannuation, he had no plans of stopping once he reached 65 years.

But he was considering picking up other part-time work to pay the bills.

'You can make a reasonable living if you work full time depending on what hours you work. But it's not as lucrative as it was when I first started three years ago,' De Buyzer said.

The market was flooded with an excess of drivers for Uber, Ola and Zoomy, he said. 'If you're not quick enough to swipe, you'll just miss out.'

De Buyzer said he made between $700 and $1000 a week on average.

Uber was still king of the market, with a better user interface and system, than Ola its biggest competitor and despite Zoomy, its New Zealand-owned counterpart paying drivers more, he said.

'It's all well and good if Zoomy's paying us more, but all the riders are still on Uber.'