The effect of workplace accessibility on commuter profiles and vacancies
An empirical study of accessibility, commuting and job vacancies in the Netherlands
M.J. Kop (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
M. Kroesen – Mentor (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
C. Maat – Mentor (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
H.A.W. Voskamp – Mentor
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Abstract
In tight labour markets, recruitment difficulties are often attributed to skill shortages, overlooking the critical role of physical location. Even if qualified candidates exist, vacancies may remain unfilled if the workplace is inaccessible. This issue is particularly acute in economic clusters like the Port of Rotterdam, where 88% of employers cite accessibility as a recruitment barrier. This suggests that labour shortages reflect not only a lack of talent but also a spatial and modal mismatch between job locations and the workforce.
Shifting the analytical lens from the traditional residential perspective to the employer perspective, this thesis investigates how public transport accessibility functions as a selective mechanism for commuter profiles and explains regional variations in vacancy fulfilment. The study combines a national Latent Class Cluster Analysis (LCCA) to identify socio-demographic commuter profiles with a spatial stepwise regression in the Rijnmond region to model vacancy duration and vacancy rates.
The results demonstrate that workplace accessibility fundamentally shapes the intake of commuters. High-accessibility locations attract highly educated, transit-oriented workers, whereas peripheral industrial areas draw car-dependent profiles. This creates a modal mismatch for urban workers without car access, a pattern observed nationally but intensified in the port.
Furthermore, the regression analysis reveals a distinct spatial paradox regarding recruitment efficiency. Public transport accessibility is a significant predictor for vacancy duration, explaining 18.2% of the spatial variation when interacting with urban density. In peripheral and industrial zones, better accessibility significantly reduces vacancy duration, acting as a critical solution to friction. Conversely, in dense urban cores, high accessibility is associated with longer vacancy durations, likely due to increased employer selectivity in larger labour pools. In contrast, accessibility showed minimal explanatory power for vacancy rates, which appear driven by structural, sector-specific shortages rather than connectivity.
This thesis concludes that accessibility acts as a selective filter, effectively excluding the urban talent vital for the energy transition from industrial employment. To bridge this gap, policy should prioritize smart, demand-responsive mobility and the strategic relocation of non-place-bound functions to urban hubs, rather than solely expanding traditional infrastructure.