Crisis on wheels: logistics is becoming more expensive due to a shortage of personnel
- Ksenia Potaeva Author
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Photo by Andrey Gordeev/Vedomosti/TASS The transport and logistics industry is facing an acute shortage of personnel. According to some estimates, the market is short of 500,000 truck drivers, and there is a shortage of freight forwarders, mechanics, electricians, warehouse workers and IT specialists. The shortage of workers accelerates wage growth and leads to equipment downtime – both of which affect the cost of transportation. According to market participants surveyed by Forbes, there is no way out of the impasse: competition for personnel will only intensify, salaries will continue to grow, but it will not be possible to overcome the industry deficit in the next 10-15 years
In May 2024, the service “Rabota.ru” conducted a survey among several thousand Russians and found out how often they have to work overtime. In first place was the transport and logistics sector: 71% of those employed in it admitted that they constantly have to work overtime. It is followed by industry and agriculture by a wide margin.
The need for overtime is associated with a shortage of personnel. According to hh.ru, in May 2024, the number of vacancies in the transport and logistics industry increased by 23% compared to May 2023, the increase in the number of resumes was 17%. According to the consulting company Strategy Partners, the Russian market road freight transportation is growing by 5-8% per year: in 2030 its volume could reach 3.03 trillion rubles, which is almost 40% more than in 2022 (2.18 trillion rubles).
Why there was a shortage
General Director of the transport company Delko Sanjar Ashuraliev considers the main reasons for the shortage of personnel in the industry to be the consequences of the demographic crisis of the 1990s, the coronavirus pandemic and the “special operation”*, against the backdrop of which European markets closed and freight transportation within the country increased due to the reorientation of logistics routes.
According to Veronica Zueva, HR Director of NOYTECH Supply Chain Solutions, the problem is quite acute, especially if we are talking not just about line employees, but about specialists. “In addition to the demographic crisis and other well-known reasons, the personnel shortage in the labor market has increased due to the outflow of specialists to construction in new regions** and growing demand in the industrial production sector,” she notes.
HR Director of Courier Service Express Galina Kezikova adds that in recent decades, job seekers have not been interested in blue-collar professions, since service sector employees, office workers, and managers of all levels were in demand. “In the system of education and training, production personnel were not given enough attention,” Kezikova complains. — School graduates also had a priority in law or economics. Today, the demand for blue-collar skills is growing, and the market is in dire need of such highly qualified personnel, the preparation of which requires time and appropriate infrastructure.”
The growth in popularity of blue-collar professions began quite recently, and, according to Olga Chernova, HR Business Partner of the Boxberry production department, it will take a lot of time and effort to change the vector of aspirations of young employees. “Young people strive to receive higher education, and it is accessible to a wide segment of the population,” the expert states. — A graduate with a diploma, as a rule, is not ready to work as a line employee. In recent years, a fashion has developed for remote work, freelancing, highly qualified professions, career achievements or your own business, a certain freedom and high income.” Chernova also notes that the development of e-commerce has led to the fact that this area “attracts a huge layer of workers.” Forbes previously wrote about the role of e-commerce in the formation of the personnel crisis in Russia.
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Who is in short supply
Deputy Head of HR at STALOGISTIC Maria Shelofaeva notes that the shortage of personnel in the field of logistics is felt both among line personnel and top management. “The situation escalated after the start of the special operation and continues to worsen,” she says. — At the same time, the main problem is that often the level of candidates does not meet their salary expectations and market requirements. Employers have to compete for experienced employees.”
According to Nadezhda Komissarova, HR Director of fulfillment operator Beta PRO, logistics market players find it most difficult to attract line personnel. “These are mainly warehouse employees (pickers, packers, stickers, and so on), as well as representatives of all working specialties – loaders, forklift and stacker drivers, truck drivers, dispatchers,” Komissarova lists. “If we talk about office specialists, then only IT employees are in short supply.”
Other experts agree. In the office sector, according to Zueva from NOYTECH Supply Chain Solutions, the shortage mainly affects qualified IT specialists, especially those working with domestic software and 1C-type systems.
But there really aren’t enough blue-collar workers. According to market participants surveyed by Forbes, the shortage of pickers ranges from 20% to 30%, storekeepers – about 20%, warehouse equipment drivers – more than 15%.
Director of Communications and Personnel of FM Logistic in Russia Maria Shipovalova says that in all regions of its presence the company is recording high demand for operators of mechanized and automated warehouses, PC operators, drivers of reach trucks and freight transport.
Zueva adds that NOYTECH Supply Chain Solutions faces difficulties in finding men for some positions in warehouse logistics, where physical stress is high, as well as employees aged 26 to 45 years. “Mostly women and candidates of pre-retirement age respond to vacancies,” she explains. “This trend has not changed since 2023.” According to NOYTECH estimates, in 2023 and 2024, women will dominate among the hired employees in the logistics sector – about 60%.
However, the most acute problem of the transport and logistics industry is the shortage of truck drivers. “The shortage of drivers is observed everywhere,” confirms Igor Chernyshev, Director of Business Development at SOTA Logistic. A special shortage category on the market, in his opinion, is drivers who have the right to drive a vehicle with a trailer (subcategory E in the driver's license). According to SOTA Logistic, the level of vacant jobs for drivers is at least 13% in the market as a whole. According to the public association “Drivers of Russia”, the shortage of category C, CE, D drivers is about 500,000 people (about 25%).
Ashuraliyev from Delko believes that this situation has arisen, among other things, due to poor training of personnel and a shortage of driving schools that train category CE drivers – organizations of this specificity make up only 15% of the total number.
“In most driving schools, students have to acquire practical skills driving older vehicles rather than modern tractor-trailers,” he explains. — Driving schools do not teach the profession of a freight forwarder and do not guarantee employment; all this does not help attract young people to the profession. In addition, not everyone is ready for life on wheels and high responsibility. As a result, the average age of delivery drivers in Russia already exceeds 50 years.”
Ashuraliev adds that the industry also lacks specialists to ensure the operation of transport: mechanics, mechanics, electricians. Especially those who know the specifics of servicing and repairing Chinese tractors, which are replacing aging European equipment. In the next few years, Delko estimates that the shortage of such specialists will reach 25% or “even more.” Forbes previously wrote about other difficulties with the operation of Chinese tractors.
According to Avito data cited by Ashuraliev, in May competition for applicants in the industry increased most in the Far Eastern, Northwestern and North Caucasus federal districts – by 12-14%. But, as market participants note, there is a shortage of personnel in all regions of Russia.
“If we talk about logistics, then so far the demand is greater in the capital region – due to the fact that the terminal infrastructure is more developed here,” says Olga Chernova from Boxberry. “However, major players have been investing in the development of regional terminals and routes for several years, so people are needed everywhere. Industrial enterprises across Russia are now actively recruiting people, where there is also a big problem with filling vacancies. And logistics has to compete for personnel in all areas. In regions that traditionally supplied shift workers, many new jobs are appearing, so it is now more profitable for local residents to find work at home. If previously a person from a small town went to Moscow to work, now he is not ready to travel further than his regional center.”
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Attract at any cost
Logistics companies are trying to solve the issue of staff shortages in different ways. For example, with the help of internal changes – improvement of social programs, systems of material and non-material motivation, training courses, automation of processes. According to Maria Shelofaeva from STALOGISTIC, cooperation with institutions of higher and secondary vocational education is practiced, referral programs are used, including for “external recommenders.”
“Many companies solve the problem of staff shortages in warehouse logistics by automating processes,” notes Olga Chernova from Boxberry. “This allows us to minimize the number of workers at the moment, but in the future it will provoke an increase in demand for engineering and technical specialties in logistics, since this equipment will need to be serviced by someone – configured, repaired, modernized, scaled.”
HR Director of Courier Service Express Galina Kezikova says that taking into account the situation on the labor market, the company has revised the requirements for candidates. “Today we are ready to hire applicants 50 years of age and older, and we employ women in such traditionally “male” positions as a forklift driver,” she explains. “At the same time, we always approach it individually, taking into account the level of possible physical activity and the readiness of a particular candidate for it.”
Despite the improvement of working conditions and various privileges for employees, the most important way to attract remains raising salaries.
“The growth is dictated by the market, for a number of positions we are currently observing a “candidate market”. Thus, over the past year, salary increases have reached 50%, the minimum growth for some scarce positions we recorded at 30%,” says Zueva from NOYTECH Supply Chain Solutions.
According to STALOGISTIC estimates, wages for the last year in the industry increased by 20-30%, especially among line personnel – loaders, forwarders, sales managers. Nadezhda Komissarova from Beta PRO provides her data: compared to the beginning of 2022, the growth ranged from 70% to 80%.
SOTA Logistic Business Development Director Igor Chernyshev says that due to a shortage of drivers at many automobile enterprises, transport is idle. According to various estimates, one day of heavy truck downtime costs companies from 15,000 to 50,000 rubles. Attempts to attract and retain drivers lead to a constant increase in wages, which in turn affects the cost of transportation. In the tariff amount, according to SOTA Logistic estimates, the driver’s salary is already more than 30% (before 2022 it was 15-20%). According to Strategy Partners, the increase in transportation costs in 2024 could be 24%, in 2025 – 11%. Almost half of this growth will come from driver wages. “Currently, a truck driver’s salary is 180,000 rubles after taxes. And even for that kind of money it’s difficult to find a driver with experience,” noted Chernyshev.
It won't get better
Market participants are confident that the situation with personnel in the transport and logistics industry will not improve in the long term. Olga Chernova from Boxberry believes that in the next 10-15 years the country will have difficulties with personnel and without an influx of foreign specialists the deficit will not decrease. According to her, large companies with large budgets will set the trends, while others will have to adapt.
Igor Chernyshev from SOTA Logistic agrees that in the near future, the personnel issue can only be resolved by attracting drivers from neighboring countries, such as Belarusians.
“The problem must be solved through comprehensive measures at the state level. If nothing is done, the market situation will not improve until 2035-2040,” states Sanjar Ashuraliev from Delko.
According to Nadezhda Komissarova, the current situation must be taken for granted and business processes must be built taking into account the need to train, retain and build staff loyalty, as well as update and use all possible schemes of non-material motivation, correspond to the market in terms of wages and working conditions.
According to Anatoly Grek, partner in the Automotive Industry and Transport practice at Strategy Partners, there are several market mechanisms for solving the problem, the most effective is increasing wages and attracting people from other industries to the field of road transportation. “Perhaps this will not make the profession prestigious and popular, but it will be well paid. This driver also works on the Russian market. We see an increase in truck driver salaries and a general “whitening” of the industry,” he sums up.
* According to the requirement of Roskomnadzor, when preparing materials about a special operation in eastern Ukraine, all Russian media are required to use information only from official sources of the Russian Federation. We cannot publish materials in which the ongoing operation is called an “attack,” “invasion,” or “declaration of war,” unless this is a direct quote (Article 57 of the Federal Law on the Media). In case of violation of the requirement, the media may be subject to a fine of 5 million rubles, and the publication may also be blocked.
** Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions became part of Russia following the results of referendums in September 2022, held six months after the start of Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine. Ukraine, the USA and the EU countries did not recognize the results of these referendums.
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Ksenia Potaeva
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