Lyft drivers worried about losing work to autonomous vehicles could retrain as car mechanics to meet rising demand for such jobs, COO Jon McNeill has said. The ride-hailing company is testing a new program in which it will pay its employees who drive cars with self-driving capabilities up to $70,000 per year if they switch from their current jobs and He compared drivers to mechanical telephone operators whose jobs disappeared with technology. But he said the autonomous future was some way off and the firm would need more drivers in the next 10 years.
Lyft drivers worried about losing work to autonomous vehicles could retrain as car mechanics to meet rising demand for such jobs, COO Jon McNeill has said. Autonomous cars would be used 20 times more than conventional vehicles, would wear out 20 times faster and create 20 times the demand for mechanics, who were better paid than drivers, McNeill said. He compared drivers to mechanical telephone operators whose jobs disappeared with technology. But he said the autonomous future was some way off and the firm would need more drivers in the next 10 years.