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.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Speaking
Management of Personnel Resources
Reading Comprehension
Writing
Monitoring
Social Perceptiveness
Negotiation

Key knowledge

Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Law and Government
Economics and Accounting
Computers and Electronics
Mathematics
Administrative

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.
Develop and implement purchasing and contract management instructions, policies, and procedures.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (52.6% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (31.6%)
On-the-job training: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (21.1%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Purchasing Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 67% of occupations compared	63% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared	53% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 74% of occupations compared	58% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Moderate	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 58% of occupations compared	58% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	High	Higher on time pressure than 73% of occupations compared	47% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	High	Higher on conflict situations than 79% of occupations compared	58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	High	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 60% of occupations compared	47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Consequence of error	Very low	Lower on consequence of error than 87% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: high
Conflict situations: high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
Consequence of error: very low

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions