Purchasing managers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, purchasing managers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 20% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy purchasing managers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Data analyst | 2.9 | $44k |
| Real estate appraiser | 2.9 | $55k |
| Lodging manager | 2.9 | $59k |
| Operations research analyst | 2.9 | $82k |
| Office manager | 2.9 | $61k |
| Purchasing manager | 2.9 | $127k |
| Fundraising manager | 2.8 | $115k |
| Energy broker | 2.8 | $55k |
| Industrial production manager | 2.8 | $103k |
| Risk management specialist | 2.8 | $73k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are purchasing managers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do purchasing managers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as purchasing managers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are purchasing manager’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are purchasing managers making the best use of their abilities?
Are purchasing managers happy with their salary?
Purchasing managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most purchasing managers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked purchasing managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
748 purchasing managers
12% of purchasing managers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of purchasing managers rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of purchasing managers rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of purchasing managers rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of purchasing managers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do purchasing managers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, purchasing managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of purchasing managers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked purchasing managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
748 purchasing managers
7% of purchasing managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
15% of purchasing managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of purchasing managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
30% of purchasing managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
29% of purchasing managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as purchasing managers?
Purchasing managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of purchasing managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked purchasing managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
810 purchasing managers
21% of purchasing managers rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of purchasing managers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of purchasing managers rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of purchasing managers rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of purchasing managers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a purchasing manager’s work environment?
As a whole, purchasing managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of purchasing managers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a purchasing manager.
We asked purchasing managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
803 purchasing managers
15% of purchasing managers rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of purchasing managers rated their work environment 4 stars
24% of purchasing managers rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of purchasing managers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of purchasing managers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are purchasing managers making the best use of their abilities?
Former purchasing managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Purchasing managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked purchasing managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
810 purchasing managers
10% of purchasing managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of purchasing managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of purchasing managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of purchasing managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
12% of purchasing managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars