Demand for couriers has almost quadrupled

High demand from marketplaces and delivery operators for courier services led to an increase in their salaries by 30% at the end of 2023. In the country as a whole, the average income of such workers reached 70 thousand rubles, and in Moscow – 82 thousand rubles, according to data from Avito Rabota and Salary Index. E-commerce market players confirm that the demand for delivery is growing faster than the number of couriers. At the same time, the growing number of couriers caused concern in the State Duma, where they decided to introduce a system of control over them.

At the end of 2023, the average salary offered to couriers by delivery operators in the country as a whole increased by a third, according to a joint study by Avito Rabota and Salary Index, which Kommersant has at its disposal. Thus, the monthly salary of a walking courier in many cities is about 70.62 thousand rubles, in Moscow this figure is expected to be higher – 82.24 thousand rubles. A courier using a car can earn approximately 82.12 thousand rubles. per month, in Moscow – 96.4 thousand rubles.

The increase in pay for couriers follows an increase in demand for their services. Thus, according to Avito Rabota and Salary Index, last year the demand for delivery workers, for example, in Perm and Tula increased 4.3 times compared to 2022, in Tomsk – 3.9 times, in Nizhny Novgorod – 3 .4 times, in Rostov-on-Don and Tyumen – 3.1 times.

A sharp increase in pay for delivery workers began in the first quarter of 2023, when in a number of cities their salaries increased by 12–13% (see “Kommersant” dated July 1, 2023).

The most noticeable increase in January-March last year was observed in Siberia (by 13% year-on-year, to 55.7 thousand rubles per month) and in the Urals (by 12%, to 55.3 thousand rubles, respectively).

Marketplaces and independent delivery services have already realized that a simple salary increase is not enough; competition forces them to use additional motivation to attract and retain personnel, says Ekaterina Ivashkevich, chief operating officer of Salary Index. According to her, the days have already passed when the employer could dictate his terms to the courier; now, at the slightest dissatisfaction, he will simply leave for another company. The average time for selecting a courier has now increased by 30%, so the salaries of couriers will only increase, the expert predicts.

“The demand for delivery of prepared food from restaurants, groceries and goods in general continues to grow every year, and the labor market was not ready for such a rapid development of e-commerce,” says a representative of Yandex e-com services. At the end of 2023, the number of orders on this site increased by one and a half times year on year. The demand for delivery is growing faster than the number of couriers, the company states. To process the existing volume of orders, online platforms also largely lack storekeepers, assemblers and sorters, Yandex clarified.

Couriers determine their own earnings, since employment in delivery is flexible, Ozon explains.

They noted that couriers collaborating with the marketplace are self-employed, their remuneration grew by 10% year on year, which is a logical step given the growth in income of specialists from other areas.

A Wildberries representative told Kommersant that compared to the high season and New Year holidays, there is now a stable trend in the number of active delivery workers. The company’s employment format is flexible, which affects the final earnings of couriers, Wildberries adds. There, the increase in demand for couriers is associated with business expansion and the opening of new logistics centers and order delivery points.

But the situation with the increase in the number of couriers also has a downside. According to Konstantin Ordov, professor of the Department of Financial Management of the Plekhanov Russian Economic University, many citizens “are nervous about couriers riding motorized bicycles along pedestrian streets.” He believes that due to the growing number of delivery people on the streets, it is necessary to consider the possibility of limiting them, which is what the State Duma is already doing.

In parliament, in particular, they are considering the possibility of introducing a control system for couriers, including testing for knowledge of traffic rules, in order to raise the quality standards of their work. Although the new system of control over employees can indeed raise the level of professional activity of couriers, it can also lead to a noticeable increase in prices for their services, Mr. Ordov admits.

Vladimir Komarov