BUSINESS
The gig picture This city needs gig workers. They don’t need it back — yet
Gig business is big business Gig work isn’t limited to taxi services. Henry Harris focuses on rides but also picks up groceries and other items to be delivered. He compiled a book of 120 clients after putting in his time with Uber and Lyft and made the transition off the apps. Much like Valencia, Harris is all over Facebook with loads of positive reviews. Dick offers many other services in addition to transportation. She’ll do your shopping for you or wait for a repairman and let him into your house, so you don’t have to take a day off from work. She’ll also do pickups and deliveries. “I’ve really taken a lot of time to listen to my customers and what they’re wanting,” Dick said. While the ridesharing industry might seem like it’s tethered to an app, Dick pointed out that’s not been the case with her business. “A lot of my customers are older, and they don’t want to set up a ride through some app on their phone,” Dick said. “They want to call and actually talk to a real, live person and to know what services are available.” Diminishing returns For Harris, the attraction to ridesharing came years ago after a divorce. “I needed the flexibility that being an Uber or Lyft driver could offer,” he said “It worked great for me. I could work a few hours and make good money.” But over time, the money was starting to dwindle, and inflation was adding to the expenses of vehicle maintenance and everything else. Especially in metro Phoenix, where inflation was worse than any other American city last year. “When I started, it was an 80-20 split with the driver getting 80%,” Harris said. “But as time passed, that started to decrease to 60-40 and then it seemed like it got worse than that.” Harris is alluding to the take rate, the amount of money a rideshare company like Uber or Lyft takes from each transaction. “A lot of my customers are older, and they don’t want to set up a ride through some app on their phone. They want to call and actually talk to a real, live person and to know what services are available.” CHRISTINA DICK
HOW THE GIG ECONOMY WILL LIFT MARICOPA’S FUTURES Tempe economist Jim Rounds said he feels the gig economy will be an important part of Maricopa’s future growth. “We’ve done a lot of research on Pinal County and Maricopa in particular and we feel it’s in line for growth that’s going to outstrip the rest of the area,” Rounds said. “You have a lot of businesses there that are getting ready to grow and freelancers are going to play a crucial role in that growth.” While some employers want to keep their head counts down as a way of reducing liability and costs in general, many others need the customization that freelance workers can offer, Rounds explained. “Let’s say I’ve got a business of five employees, and I’ve got more work than they could do, but not so
much that it makes sense to hire another,” Rounds said. “There are a few choices. I can increase my workforce by 20% and spend money that I may not quite be ready to spend, or I can get my existing employees to take on the extra work. They’re not going to be happy with that arrangement and I’m not going to be happy paying for an extra salary that’s not quite feasible yet.” The third option,
that community itself. For example, in Maricopa, most jobs existing within the city
are related to retail, which means most freelance work is related to that industry. But as more high-wage jobs based in manufacturing and technology come online in the coming years, it will mean more independent contractors will come into the market specializing in those related fields. As the pandemic becomes more distant in the past, many businesses are starting to call their employees back into the office, which might appear to the casual observer that the gig economy is reaching its end. Rounds disagrees. “I see the importance of in-person work for a lot of fields,” Rounds said. “But as an economy, we were heading this way before the pandemic. The gig economy was already developing. The pandemic just accelerated it.”
BY JUSTIN GRIFFIN
one is a testament to consumer fatigue over the viral ridesharing apps that swept the country during the last decade. In an emerging Maricopa economy whose workers increasingly rely on gig work to make ends meet — but where gig work is hard to come by and less convenient than in other cities — Valencia’s decision to divorce Silicon Valley becomes more diffcult for each person who attempts it after him. Booked Instead of turning on an app and waiting for a client, Valencia’s phone rings, he checks his calendar to see if he’s got an opening and pencils them in. He has his normal clients, and more come every day. If you search for an Uber driver on one of the Maricopa Facebook boards, Valencia’s name will come up repeatedly. For example, poster Alyssa Durkee said, “Arthur Valencia is my go-to and who I recommend, and about a dozen other posters agreed. It’s hard to say how far in advance you’d have to contact Valencia to get a spot on his calendar — he has rides scheduled as far out as two months. And if a rider cancels, Valencia doesn’t charge a cancelation fee. It’s one of the ways he does better than the behemoths, Uber and Lyft, and survives the competition. It’s more than enough business to keep Valencia busy and well-paid, as he shares clients with friends whom he knows will take good care of them. One of those friends is Christina Dick, who started her own company, Sonoran Shuttle and Concierge. “We constantly share clients,” Dick said. With Maricopa’s population exploding, there’s no shortage of customers, or a need to poach. In fact, there’s an etiquette to it, Dick explained. “We try to stay with our own clients,” she said. “We try to respect one another, but sometimes a customer is going to do what they’re going to do.”
a gig worker, makes the most sense for everyone, Rounds said.
“It allows me to take the pressure off our existing employees and at the same time, get the work done without committing to another full-time employee until the business
is ready to support the position,” Rounds said.
While the most common example of a freelancer in Maricopan is a DoorDasher or an Uber driver, Rounds feels it’s a trend indicative of the future and to some degree is a reflection of
Arthur Valencia drives Maricopans to the airport or anywhere else they’re looking to go.
I
The two decided to cancel the trip through the app and the rider agreed to pay Valencia $50 instead. “It was a better deal for both of us,” Valencia said. “It was more than double what I was going to make through the app, and he saved $50.” Was it the final ride that Valencia gave through ridesharing apps? No. But the seed had been planted. As time went on, Valencia printed business cards and started to market himself and his ser- vices to people he met through the rideshare apps and on social media, efforts which allowed him to transition off rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, giving Maricopans rides to the airport or anywhere else. For the last five years, Valencia has regularly posted on Facebook about some of his wilder experiences under the name “UberMan.” In total, he’s told 300 stories about rides gone wrong — and right. Valencia has built up a book of business that now includes nearly 1,300 clients. Each
T WAS A MOMENT OF DIVINE inspiration for Arthur Valencia as he took his final ride of the night as a Lyft driver a few years ago.
Valencia was working a Saturday in Phoenix but was ready to go home to Senita. Before calling it a night, he decided to do one more trip and it was one that changed his life. His timing was impeccable with the Arizona Cardinals football game ending and the associated surge fees that would come with 64,000 people leaving State Farm Stadium at once. Maybe this trip would yield a decent fare, he thought. Demand was sky-high at that moment. Valencia took a three-mile ride that paid $23. “The guy got in the car and said, ‘For $100, this trip better be a good one,’” Valencia said. Shocked, Valencia responded, “You paid $100 for this ride?” and then told the rider he was only getting $23. Lyft was going to get $77. Not for long, though.
Henry Harris drops off passengers Robert Rowe and Cory Adams in Maricopa after a trip home from the airport.
InMaricopa.com | March 2024
March 2024 | InMaricopa.com
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