Uber continues to change the way it acts on a daily basis.
Last year, the company manipulated its competitors and tried to attack its critics. Now, the ride-sharing startup is looking to provide more than one million jobs for women all over the world.
Uber's general counsel Salle Yoo told Buzzfeed that it would be announcing a new partnership with the U.N. on Tuesday, wherein the startup would attempt to employ one million women from all over the world by 2020.
"We are supportive of the UN Women's goal of accelerating economic opportunities for women....In the coming weeks, we plan to sit down with UN Women and discuss the most innovative ways to [create jobs]," Yoo said.
Uber will be focusing specifically on regions where U.N. Women have established a presence. Yoo hopes that Uber will work with U.N. Women's various chapters to find the best way to serve the local female communities.
However, as Buzzfeed notes, female Uber drivers have reported that customers have taken their phone numbers from the site and harassed them. Uber responded to such claims from Indian drivers by adding a panic button to the car. However, this feature isn't available outside of India.
There's also the issue of whether these women would actually be employees. Uber and Lyft are both in California-centric cases that could affect whether U.S. drivers are treated as employees with benefits or as contractors without benefits. While such a law wouldn't affect drivers in India, it's unclear if these women in second and third-world countries would benefit enough from just being a contractor.
But regardless of these potential issues, Yoo believes that this partnership will change lives.
"When I look at this issue the way I think about it is I think that empowering women is part and parcel of gender equality and earning a living on your terms is a huge piece of that....This is something I believe in."
