James Howe never imagined that picking up a passenger at the airport could change the course of his career. For more than a decade, Howe was behind the wheel as an Uber driver in Denver, Colorado, navigating the city’s streets and the ever-shifting landscape of the gig economy. His experience, while uniquely American, echoes the stories of thousands of drivers across Latin America and the Caribbean, as revealed in a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) published on February 26, 2026.
The IDB’s comprehensive survey, which interviewed more than 13,700 Uber drivers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, paints a nuanced portrait of this workforce. The numbers are striking: 91% of drivers are male, and a surprising 57% hold a university degree. The average age is 41, and for most, Uber isn’t a full-time career but a part-time gig to supplement their main income. According to the IDB, the average gross earnings per hour come in at $7.30—a figure that hovers over the realities of flexible but precarious work.
“Most work part time and value the autonomy this kind of job offers, even above salaried jobs with similar earnings,” wrote two IDB experts in a blog post accompanying the study. Flexibility, it turns out, is the golden ticket for many. With labor markets often unstable and household budgets tight, drivers are drawn to the immediacy and liquidity that Uber provides. But that flexibility comes at a cost: social protection is thin, and only about one-third of drivers contribute to a pension through Uber.
Howe’s journey mirrors these broader trends, though with a distinctly personal twist. He began driving for Uber as a side hustle, juggling it with a traditional job. “I could juggle both a traditional job and drive more than 20 hours a week. I could work whenever I wanted. It was a good side hustle, especially as people started going out again after COVID, and Uber needed more drivers to meet demand,” Howe told Business Insider. Back then, Uber’s rate card system made earnings predictable. “You made X amount of money per mile and X per minute. It was predictable,” he recalled.
But the landscape shifted. As the pandemic reshaped work and demand patterns, Uber introduced upfront pricing, moving away from the transparent rate card. Suddenly, Howe and countless others found themselves spending more unpaid time online, waiting for rides. “Instead of spending 40 hours a week on the app and doing really well earnings-wise, I found myself spending up to 60 hours to make the same pay,” Howe said. The decline in bonuses and promotions, coupled with an influx of new drivers seeking work, only intensified the competition. “Many of the rides Uber offered me didn’t pay as well as they used to, so I ended up rejecting most of them.”
For Howe, the gig that once felt empowering began to lose its shine. “I learned to operate more like a business owner and less like an employee,” he reflected. The flexibility, while still valuable, now came with the burden of unpredictability and diminished returns. “The time you spend on the app is a lot. I would try to do other tasks while I waited for a good ride to pop up, but your attention would be diverted, and you wouldn’t really be focused on those other tasks.”
The IDB study confirms that this sense of instability is widespread. Drivers in Latin America and the Caribbean, much like Howe, often turn to Uber during recessions, periods of unemployment, or personal crises. “The platform offers immediacy and liquidity, but not necessarily stability,” the report noted. The authors went further, suggesting that Uber drivers are not just symbols of the future of work, but also a reflection of the present: “Their experiences show how millions of people already navigate unstable incomes, weak safety nets, and the constant need to adapt.”
Despite these challenges, some drivers—like Howe—find unexpected opportunities. In a twist of fate, he met his new employer while driving for Uber. “I actually got the job after driving an Uber passenger who is an executive at the company. I picked him up at the airport as he was coming back from a business trip, and we started talking about his business and finances. At the end of the trip, he gave me his card and told me to reach out if I wanted to talk about joining his company.” Howe left Uber in December 2025 and started a new full-time position in finance, the industry where he’d previously worked.
Now, with a steady job, Howe enjoys the perks that come with traditional employment. “I can take a full PTO day and go skiing in the mountains. I don’t have to think, ‘I’m missing all the profitable Friday trips on Uber.’” But he still looks back on his Uber days with a mix of nostalgia and critique. “Uber was a really good company when the pay was better. They used to call us ‘driver partners’—before they started referring to us as ‘independent contractors’—and you felt that they were looking out for you. That’s when Uber’s culture changed for me. They still say they look out for drivers, but I think their actions speak louder than their words.”
Uber, for its part, maintains that it continues to offer incentives and support for drivers. An Uber spokesperson told Business Insider that the company still provides promotions, such as bonuses for completing a set number of trips within a specific timeframe. The spokesperson also pointed to programs like Uber Pro, which offers tiered statuses aimed at retaining drivers.
The IDB’s data underscores that, across Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority of Uber drivers are not full-time gig workers but individuals seeking to bridge gaps in their finances. Men on the platform average nearly 20 hours per week, while women average 16 hours—both groups demonstrating the part-time nature of most Uber driving in the region. The study’s snapshot of 13,700 drivers reveals a workforce that is educated, adaptable, and keenly aware of both the benefits and pitfalls of gig work.
As the world of work continues to evolve, the stories of drivers like Howe and the findings of the IDB serve as a reminder that flexibility and autonomy often come at the expense of security and predictability. For many, Uber offers a lifeline during tough times, but it’s a lifeline that can fray under the strain of changing policies, increased competition, and the relentless push for efficiency.
In the end, the gig economy remains a complex balancing act—one that millions are navigating daily, with hopes for both immediate relief and a more secure future.