"The logistics sector has become increasingly important to the European economy over the past years due to the spread of the e-commerce, which has brought about consumer-driven supply chains and integrated transport into retail. The four country case studies in this volume – covering France, Germany, Italy and Spain – converge in indicating that, despite this growth, working conditions in logistics have been deteriorating and consequently the staff turnover is massive. These two tendencies are only apparently contradictory. Indeed, the booming of logistics goes hand in hand with stiff price competition, boosted by the need to deliver goods to end consumers in the shortest possible time at the lowest cost.
This Report demonstrates that in logistics subcontracting is a prevalent business model that leads to lower pay and poorer working conditions for the purpose of cutting costs and boosting profits. Moreover, because of their strong market position, the companies belonging to the big logistics and e-commerce group maintain a certain control over smaller companies, temporary work agencies or individuals (especially drivers who they treat as ‘self-employed'), to which they contract out. Therefore, subcontracting has become a strategy for separating power and profits from risks and responsibilities.
Facing the unsustainability of the current logistics business model, the Authors claim for a European regulation aimed at reducing the benefits that companies gain through subcontracting in terms of lower responsibility and labour cost reductions. In particular, they advocate that subcontracting has to be limited: both what can be contracted out and the length of the subcontracting chain need to be restricted. As a general rule, subcontracting needs to be justified by reasons other than pure profit because, according to national Constitutions and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, pure profit cannot prevail over workers' rights."

Support: Digital;Paper

ISBN (PDF) : 978-2-87452-770-8

Legal deposit : D/2025/10.574/21