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.
84,320 people do this job in the US. $148,080 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 80%
- 20%
- 0%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 17%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop and implement purchasing and contract management instructions, policies, and procedures.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 19% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Develop cost reduction strategies and savings plans.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 19% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Represent companies in negotiating contracts and formulating policies with suppliers.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Analyze market and delivery systems to assess present and future material availability.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 9%Half by Aug 2027 | |
| Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in buying, selling, and distributing materials, equipment, machinery, and supplies.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Locate vendors of materials, equipment or supplies, and interview them to determine product availability and terms of sales.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Prepare reports regarding market conditions and merchandise costs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 9%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Administer online purchasing systems.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 4.2 h | 69%Half by now | |
| Control purchasing department budgets.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 38%Half by Nov 2026 | |
| Review, evaluate, and approve specifications for issuing and awarding bids.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 5 h | 70%Half by now | |
| Participate in the development of specifications for equipment, products, or substitute materials.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | 49%Half by now | |
| Review purchase order claims and contracts for conformance to company policy.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 65%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).