In the summer of 2020, the US was in the throes of the COVID pandemic. Workers across the country and the socioeconomic spectrum had been laid off, been furloughed, or had their hours reduced. Millions of workers, including independent workers, were turning to government assistance to make ends meet. The COVID crisis brought into sharp focus the need for everyone, regardless of their employment status, to be able to find good-quality, rewarding work, to work in the way they choose, and to have access to an adequate social safety net.

At the time, public discourse on platform work in the US was focused on workers’ classification. In a country where key elements of the social safety net are provided by employers to their employees, reclassifying platform workers as employees was seen as an expedient pathway to their protection. California had passed a bill seeking to reclassify gig workers, and other states were considering similar measures.

It was in this context that we published our Working Together Priorities, a set of priorities for industry and government action that we hoped would improve the quality of independent work for the millions of people who work with platforms like Uber while preserving the control and autonomy that we know these workers value. We hoped that getting specific about the steps we could take as companies and the steps we need to take in partnership with workers and government would encourage a more constructive discussion on the future of independent platform work and protect access to flexible, secure work at precisely the moment when both flexibility and security were needed.

Nearly 5 years on, platform work has played an important role in America’s economic recovery. Some of the workers hardest hit by the pandemic were women, young people, and new immigrants. Many turned to platform work: 57% of new platform workers surveyed by Accenture in 2021 had either lost a job or had their hours reduced, and nearly 80% reported that platform work acted as a financial safety net during the crisis. Of app-based workers surveyed, 85% have said their work with platforms has been helpful in dealing with inflation. In 2022, over 7 million Americans worked with the major app-based rideshare and delivery platforms, which contributed an estimated $212 billion to the US economy.

People turned to platforms during these challenging economic times because it’s easy to get started and possible to fit the work around your life. Drivers and couriers who earn with Uber have real-time control over their working hours, times, and locations—there are no shifts and no minimum hours. There’s no obligation to work, and workers can and do work across multiple and competing apps. This kind of flexibility just doesn’t exist in traditional employment.

During this time, voters in California passed Proposition 22, which clarified app-based workers’ status and introduced new benefits, including minimum earnings, healthcare stipends, and occupational accident insurance. Prop 22 was challenged and ultimately upheld by the California Supreme Court. The overwhelming majority of app-based drivers in California say that Prop 22 has been good for them and recommend that other states pass laws like Prop 22. We partnered with industry and labor in Washington State to support a bill regulating rideshare, including minimum earnings, sick leave, paid family and medical leave, and workers’ compensation coverage for drivers. We’ve reached agreements with the Attorneys General in New York and Massachusetts that introduce new protections for rideshare drivers in these states, including minimum earnings and various benefits. States have passed or are considering bills enabling or mandating benefits for gig workers. No state has reclassified gig workers as employees of platforms.

This document provides an update on our corporate commitments and the calls to action we set out in 2020. This progress and emerging consensus are the product of meaningful dialogue with workers and their representatives, government, other platforms, and experts. There is more work to do, and we remain committed to doing it.