Uber, the on-demand car service, has announced plans to set up a customer service hub in Limerick, with 150 people being hired by the end of the year.

Uber is already advertising for an initial 50 jobs as it looks to start operations in the city by the end of August, and has signed a 10 year lease on a site on Thomas Street which will become home to 300 employees when fully operational.

The company said the Centre will become a hub of Uber’s support organisation within EMEA.

Uber is a technology platform that connects riders and drivers in real time. The company has rapidly expanded throughout the world and is currently in 329 cities in 59 countries. The Limerick centre will cater for the needs of users and drivers in countries and cities outside the US.

Uber In Ireland

In Association with

In Ireland, Uber offers two services:
+ UberX - users can request a licensed SPSV driver in a Dublin taxi.
+ UberBLACK - a licensed SPSV driver in a premium class car such as a Mercedes E Class, to be chauffeured from A to B. This is limo service; the fare is calculated on base price, journey time and distance.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said: ”This will be Uber's first customer support hub of its type outside of the United States, confirming Ireland as the location of choice for leading, innovative companies, and will be a welcome boost to Limerick and the wider region.”

The centre is being grant-aided by Irish taxpayers for an undisclosed amount through IDA Ireland. IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan commented: “This is the ultimate example of foreign investment making a real difference in a regional location and I look forward to seeing Uber roll out its ambitious plans in the period ahead.”

Uber Worldwide

Uber operates now in 311 cities in 58 countries and provides more than one million rides each day. Uber is valued at an estimated $50 billion. Uber’s drivers are classified as ‘independent contractors’, thus a trade-off exists in which drivers have flexible working hours in exchange for no employer health or pension benefits.

Uber is the most prominent example of both the ‘on-demand’ and ‘sharing’ economy, in which information technology allows idle resources to be matched to consumer demand.

Uber’s strategy consists of implanting itself in a city, going on a rigorous recruitment drive and using ‘dynamic’ fares to gain market share. Most of the time they undercut the fares of traditional taxis, but when there is a sudden surge in demand, fares rise, thus encouraging more drivers onto the road.

Incentive

This enables customers to always get a car quickly, and provides an incentive to use the service again. Once Uber gains loyalty to its services, it can use the same app and same drivers to launch new services.

Uber now hopes to extend its reach into the transportation of goods as well as people. UberEATS, an on-demand meal delivery service, is now active in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto and Barcelona.

As well as traditional taxi services, Uber now hopes to provide a more efficient alternative to public transport. UberPOOL, its service which matches you with commuters of similar destination, is now available in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and, controversially, Paris.

It has known most success in San Francisco, where most fares cost $7 or less. The consumers whom it hopes to entice are not so much existing users of public transport but rather city dwellers-cum-car drivers who could be persuaded to renounce their vehicles and all the costs associated with it if costs fall to a certain level.

French Hostility

Attitudes in France to Uber are a lot more hostile than in America. UberPOP, the service that uses drivers without professional licenses, was suspended in France in July due to regulatory pressure. Prior to suspension of the service, UberPOP counted 500,000 customers and around 10,000 drivers.

Established taxi services in France complain that UberPOP is operating outside the law by not requiring its driver to obtain professional licenses. Uber counters that the proliferation of UberPOP, as opposed to its other services which provide professional drivers, is the corollary of France’s overly strict laws regarding these licenses.

Banned

While centre-left economy minister Emmanuel Macron has countenanced liberalisation of taxi services, prime minister Manuel Valls has not. After Uber’s decision to suspend UberPOP in France, Valls expressed satisfaction with the decision, saying “UberPOP needed to be banned”.

In Europe, opposition to Uber is not limited to France. Spanish and German courts have also ordered bans on the service.

Uber’s business model is also being challenged on its home turf. In July the California Labour Commissioner ruled that a former driver was owed expenses on the grounds that she was an employee not a contractor. This may put pressure on Uber’s lean cost-structure and its fundamental model of flexibility.