Career Explorer Office and admin
Changing shape
Procurement clerks
Compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 2% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -8.1% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on emotional intelligence.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $50,580
- Job growth to 2035
- -8.1%
- Openings a year
- 3,700
- People doing it (2025)
- 56,900
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Prepare documentation for contracts, applications, or permits
- Evaluate the quality or accuracy of data
- Provide information to guests, clients, or customers
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Process shipments or mail
- Maintain operational records
- Monitor resources or inventories
What the work looks like
- Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders.
- Perform buying duties when necessary.
- Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
- Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
- Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as procurement processes are increasingly automated, reducing the need for these workers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Eligibility interviewers, government programsChanging shape, Index 9, +1.6%
- Court, municipal, and license clerksChanging shape, Index 13, +3.4%
- Correspondence clerksChanging shape, Index 3, -5.6%
- Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerksChanging shape, Index 18, +2.5%
Also known as: Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Clerk, Purchasing Specialist, Procurement Assistant, Procurement Officer, Purchasing Assistant, Purchasing Associate.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.