Uber's Seattle Drivers Earned $230M In 2017

SEATTLE, WA -- Uber's Seattle drivers earned $230 million last year, and the company is planning to expand its reach even further. Geek Wire reported the San Francisco-based company employs 200 people in downtown Seattle, but has plans to hire more engineers.

"Uber plans to continue hiring engineers as it battles giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and others for tech talent in a hyper-competitive hiring market in Seattle. It recently hired former Axon executive Marcus Womack to lead its Seattle hub," GeekWire.com reported.

On top of that, the company recruited more than 15,000 drivers in Seattle. The drivers have taken more than 800,000 riders on trips across the region, Geek Wire reported.

Uber has somewhat of a strained relationship withe Seattle. The Seattle City Council on Monday was set to vote on a resolution to enact a minimum fare of $2.40 for rideshare services. Seattle was also the first city to allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize.

Rideshare drivers at Sea-Tac have been subject to harsh work conditions, with one report revealing that dozens of drivers share a single moldy bathroom at the airport.

"Uber has grown the number of trips across the city by 68 percent over the past two years. The company said drivers in Seattle made $230 million before expenses in 2017," the news site said.

Read the full Geek Wire story here.

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