How Startups Like Uber Get People to Work on July 4

On-demand workers supposedly have flexibility. So how the heck do startups make sure they have enough people working on July 4?
Lyft driver Bria Schecker waits for a customer in Brookline MA.
BROOKLINE, MA - JULY 3: Lyft driver Bria Schecker waited for a customer inside her vehicle, parked near Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Wednesday, July 3 2013. (Photo by Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Ah, the Fourth of July: that magical time of year when all work (at least in ‘Murica) ceases. That hot, long weekend you spend out of town on a trip, or maybe planning some hours-long celebration in your sunglasses with some beer, a grill, and fireworks, all without checking a single email—because you know everyone else is doing the exact same thing.

Well, not everyone. For tech’s burgeoning on-demand workforce, Fourth of July doesn't mean no work. It can mean more. Companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Instacart and more have to keep things humming no matter what day of the year—that’s the "on demand" part of on-demand.

On holidays like the Fourth of July, these companies beef up their operations so they can meet extra demand. They run promotions. They offer coupons, credits, and special Fourth of July packages, like Postmates' patriotic gear. They take the opportunity to raise awareness around causes. Uber, for instance, is partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to call attention to the issue of drunk driving—the Fourth of July weekend is one of the deadliest in the year for motorists. (Better to use Uber, the company’s pitch implies, than get into an accident you’ll regret.)

All that extra work—ensuring personal shoppers are available for any last-minute barbecue needs, having enough cars on the road so people can get to their favorite fireworks spot without worrying about parking—means companies need a whole bunch of people on call when the rest of us are kicking back. But that's not as easy as scheduling workers for an extra shift. Most of these on-demand startups build their businesses atop the so-called 1099 economy, in which the workers on which they depend are freelance contractors who ostensibly have the flexibility to make their own schedules. In other words, they're supposedly free to take the day off, too.

So how the heck do these startups make sure that on days like the Fourth, they have enough people ready to go to work?

Money Changes Everything

According to some companies, the promise of making more money lures enough employees. “Our drivers are super intuitive about when they have the chance to make the most money,” says Sheila Bryson, a spokeswoman for Lyft. “We haven’t had a ton of issues in terms of the supply side, the drivers side.” Bryson says that, for example, since Fourth of July is a weekend when most people decide to take trips, there’s a higher volume of airport runs that the ride-hailing company sees on the platform.

Other companies say that operations on such holidays are even more complicated than they might seem at first glance. Chris Vaughn, CEO of alcohol-delivery startup Saucey, says that his company's operations team has to take things like street closures, parties, and heavy foot traffic (or even parades) into consideration on days like the Fourth. “We have to anticipate how those things affect our routes ahead of time,” he says.

On big holidays, when demand is high, that spike is enough to incentivize its workforce to sign up for a shift, Vaughn says. “They love coming on the system because we get so many orders on these busy days." Because of the way the company's delivery system works, couriers can deliver five or six orders an hour, he says, pointing out that since the business is based on delivering just one kind of product—alcohol—it's easy to pick up a bunch of orders at once.

Without such built-in advantages, Vaughn says, on-demand startups would likely need to offer its employees higher-than-normal rates to get enough contractors on the platform on holidays. Indeed, about half a dozen on-demand workers we got in touch with for this piece said they either hadn’t decided whether they would log onto their apps on the Fourth of July, or came right out and said they’d prefer to take the day off. The 1099 model mandates that businesses can't assign shifts, so on-demand workers choosing to work on the Fourth are doing so on an entirely voluntary basis.

Janet Weiser, a Portland, Oregon-based Uber driver, tells WIRED she does plan to drive on the Fourth of July. As a retired paramedic, Weiser says, she's used to working round the clock, even on holidays. Plus, she says, it could be potentially more lucrative since there's less competition from other drivers, and people want to get around more than usual. “People need transportation 24/7, 365," Weiser says. "This gives me something to do that's enjoyable, since I don't have any plans during the day myself. And I can help people get where they want to go."