HOUSTON – Uber is on a recruiting spree in Houston and wants to hire 5,000 new drivers within the next 12 months.
Dozens of people packed a small meeting room at the Changes Happens Building in the Third Ward Thursday morning to hear about employment opportunities with the ride-sharing company, Uber.
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"The people that we serve are right in the community, so I don't think Uber, by itself, could come into the community and do economic development without having people that are in the community already," said Change Happens CEO Leslie Smith.
Uber is partnering with the city, the NAACP and Change Happens to recruit drivers and many of those already working for Uber spoke about their experiences with the company.
"They are fantastic. I would say 95 percent of the rides are unbelievable. Very social. You don't realize how social Uber is, because I've taken a lot of cabs in my life and I've really never talked to a cab driver," said driver, Karen Hunt.
Uber said, as always, it will run a national background check on all new drivers, and anyone with a violent crime conviction or DUI on their record will not get hired. Uber says some of the benefits of driving for them includes flexible hours.
"I think this is a great opportunity for people living in Third Ward. The pay is very good and the fact that they get to schedule their hours, their own hour or you get to pick your own time, you're free to do other things like go back to school, which is my intention for next year," said driver Lateefah Eburuche.
Uber will hold monthly meetings at the Change Happens building at 3353 Elgin Street near the University of Houston campus.
For more information, call 713-374-1200 to get details about those monthly meetings that are expected to start next week.