Purchasing Agents
(Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products)

Moderate Risk
51%

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Vote Comments (3)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
48%
(Moderate Risk)
POLLING
53%
(Moderate Risk, Based on 46 votes)
Average: 51%
LABOR DEMAND *
GROWTH
7.1%
by year 2033
WAGES
$71,950
or $34.59 per hour
Volume
477,980
as of 2023

Employment data isn't available specifically for this occupation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so we are using the data from Buyers and Purchasing Agents.

SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
6.0/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

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Calculated automation risk

48% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): Occupations with a moderate risk of automation usually involve routine tasks but still require some human judgment and interaction.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some very important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Negotiation

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Persuasion

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Originality

User poll

53% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 48% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Buyers and Purchasing Agents' job openings is expected to rise 7.1% by 2033

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Buyers and Purchasing Agents' was $71,950, or $35 per hour

'Buyers and Purchasing Agents' were paid 49.7% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 477,980 people employed as 'Buyers and Purchasing Agents' within the United States.

This represents around 0.31% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 317 people are employed as 'Buyers and Purchasing Agents'.

Job description

Purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Purchase raw or semifinished materials for manufacturing. May negotiate contracts.

SOC Code: 13-1023.00

Comments (3)

Zack (Low)
24 Dec 2025 03:18
No supplier is going to listen to a robot for why they should sell their raw materials/supplies for 30% off. This requires careful negoation, human interaction and understanding.
CurrentPurchasingAgent (Highly likely)
29 Jan 2023 20:19
It's more so that those in this profession would need to transition into a data analyst role.

I see fewer companies listening to "the gist of it" without data to back it up, and negotiations would start requiring the effective use of available data to justify benefits in a trade.

The remaining 80% of the role (quotes, purchase orders, follow-ups) is procedural and ripe for automation.

The negotiators might stay if they can make good use of data, but I can see the title disappearing.
Zack
24 Dec 2025 03:19
"quotes, purchase orders, follow-ups) is procedural and ripe for automation." ERP systems have been doing this for years and we still have Procurement Professionals not automated away?
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