Valuations can be sketchy and Uber’s might be — we’ll have to wait and see — but one thing is immediately certain: Uber is growing. Fast.

198/423 New Jobs

Last week, Uber updated its job postings and the 423 listings all together screamed one thing: explosive growth. Specifically, they pointed to an unprecedented push to grow in emerging markets. 198 of the 423 jobs listed were for positions based in a developing economy, more than were listed for the entire US plus Canada.

The APAC Play

Breaking these numbers down further, it’s clear that Uber is making a strong move (a pivot perhaps, Mr. Plouffe?) for the Asia Pacific region (APAC).

128 of the jobs listed are for positions in APAC countries, spanning 41 cities. Of those jobs, 34 are Community Managers, 32 Ops Managers, 25 General Managers, 3 Expansion Managers, 3 Marketing Managers, 1 Growth Manager, and a handful of legal, staffing, communication, and tax roles.

Uber is mum on the topic, but for the company to bolster staff in existing APAC cities and put boots on the ground in new ones at such an incredible pace, it can be assumed that business is going well in the region.

People & Money

There are two obvious reasons why the personal driver business might be going well in APAC.

First, the region is the world’s most populous.

Second, it’s quickly becoming (or already is) the world’s richest region, too.

For Uber — So What?

As APAC develops, increasingly affluent consumers from the region will travel, broaden their worldview, suffer from increased expectations, and become protective of their time. Uber will be there to help them.

The beauty of Uber is the simplicity of its offering. On the one hand, it compensates professional drivers at above-market rates. On the other, it simplifies the consumer travel experience. From home to work or airport to hotel, Uber is fast, easy, secure, classy. While there are unique pricing and branding issues within each community, the basic product is universally appealing. Demand exists regardless of geography.

Given the breakdown of its recent job listings, Uber appears to be seeing this within the APAC markets and is responding by ramping up its operations in the region. In terms of dollars, it’s probably fair to say the company is just starting to scratch the surface of its potential throughout the region.

Bottom Line

Which brings us back to valuations.

$18 billion for a domestic taxi company might be a little steep. What about the world’s first international taxi company? That would be worth a bit more. How about a giant supercomputer orchestrating the delivery of millions of people and items all over the world? Now we’re talkin’.

With three of the top 10 economies and more than half the global population, APAC isn’t a market that Uber needs to win in order to live up to its lofty valuation.

It needs to dominate.

If the classifieds are any indication, it looks like Uber is getting ready to do just that.

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