21.10.2021Where have all the CBD workers gone? Far, far away and some…

Written by: Simon Purssey, Head of Client Services, 13cabs.

The John Brack image from 1955 shows workers hurrying to the pub after work and in late 2019 the scene was almost identical as I waited at the intersection of Collins and Exhibition Streets, making my way home.

Fast forward to Wednesday, 15 September 2021 and only two people are seen crossing the same intersection at 6:15pm.

Sadly, counting heads has become one of many habits formed over the past 18 months and the Brack image reminds me of a pre-COVID-19 world where our streets bustled with life!

13cabs is part of the Essential Services Commission (ESC) so our staff have been arriving earlier and leaving later, working to pivot our business model and garner more work for our professional drivers.

In 2020 it was all about the pivot in our business. In March, we released 13things which was a huge paradigm shift from transporting people in cabs to transporting ‘parcels, pets and plonk’ – and plenty of the latter too! Our new motto was: If it fits in a cab and it’s legal – we’ll deliver!

In 2021 our world is all about collaboration – which is great! It really keeps the 13cabs wheels turning.

But we need one more key component to our smoothly run machine – and that is more professional drivers. The pool of international students is suddenly dry as a chip and this was a major pool from which successful professional drivers emerged.

At 13cabs we need our professional drivers. It’s the main reason most of our back of house workers go to work. We thrive on seeing our professional drivers become their own bosses, own their own cabs and become entrepreneurs who are there to safely transport our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The wheels of Victoria keep turning thanks to our professional drivers.

13cabs professional drivers will play a key part in the recovery for our beautiful city. They are the superheroes who get people safely from A to B during life’s highs and lows.

Take a moment to consider if you could do it.

Melbourne is suffocating economically and emotionally. Everybody is ready to get back out there but we need someone to open the doors to Victoria. We need students, domestic travel and overseas travel to return.

If Melbourne thrives, so does its people and so does 13cabs.