Purchasing Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of buyers, purchasing officers, and related workers involved in purchasing materials, products, and services. Includes wholesale or retail trade merchandising managers and procurement managers.
- Median pay
- $148,080
- Doing it now
- 88,300
- By 2035
- Up 4%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
a year
across the country
6,400 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Maintain records of goods ordered and received.
- Locate vendors of materials, equipment or supplies, and interview them to determine product availability and terms of sales.
- Prepare and process requisitions and purchase orders for supplies and equipment.
- Control purchasing department budgets.
- Interview and hire staff, and oversee staff training.
- Review purchase order claims and contracts for conformance to company policy.
- Analyze market and delivery systems to assess present and future material availability.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Business Administration, Management and OperationsSee 1,587 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Leading and persuading
Organised and precise
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $148,080 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.