Transportation and logistics services as a factor of employment in the cities of Moscow agglomeration

Record-low unemployment and high demand for logistics services, especially from e-commerce, have intensified employee shortage in transportation and logistics. It is noted that the demand for labour in the sector is growing 1,5 times faster, and the offer is 20–25% slower than in economy as a whole. Focusing on the Moscow agglomeration, the authors analyzed spatial patterns and characteristics of labour resource distribution within the transportation and logistics. The research used data from the HeadHunter portal and the Municipalities’ Indicators Database (MID), recalculated for 10-km segments within the Moscow agglomeration. The segments were grouped into five belts by the distance from the Moscow Ring Road (MRR) and the proportion of employed in the transportation and logistics: 0–30 km (over 10%), 30–60 km (3–5%), 60–80 km (less than 2%), 80–100 km (2–3%), and 100 km or more (over 5%). The belt closest to the MRR (0–30 km) concentrates the highest numbers of transportation and logistics employees but since 2020 it is decreasing because of the airport job reductions following the COVID-19 crisis and 2022 geopolitical events. The Central Ring Road attraction zone (30–60 km) experienced steady employment growth driven by construction of new large warehouse facilities but faced reductions by late 2023 due to migrant outflows. The 60–70 km zone (A-108 road zone) has the minimum proportion of those employed in transportation and logistics but may potentially attract excess employment from the nearest belt as warehouse construction shifts towards the agglomeration’s periphery. Peripheral belts exhibited active post-2021 growth, primarily supported by increasing employment in large warehouse facilities of online retailers. Overall, transportation and logistics remains a labour-surplus economic sector. The problem of employee shortage could be partly solved by the automation of linear operations, particularly at large warehouse facilities.