Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday for the first time detailed how much it has spent to support its ride-hail drivers and food delivery workers during the coronavirus crisis, which has battered the company and forced it to lay off thousands of employees.
The company said in a blog post here it had spent $19 million as of mid-May in direct two-week financial assistance to a total of nearly 48,900 drivers worldwide who were infected by the virus or ordered to quarantine.
Half of that amount was paid out to 12,350 drivers and delivery workers in the United States and Canada, Uber’s largest market and where it has some 1.3 million drivers.
Under the program announced in mid-March, North American drivers received an average of nearly $650, but payout amounts varied widely by location, with Uber limiting the maximum payment per city and calculating support based on prior earnings.
Uber did not provide a breakdown of payments in other countries, but a spokesman said financial assistance has been provided in all of the more than 70 countries it operates in.
The spokesman said drivers’ demand for support also varied depending on the existing social safety net in individual countries.
