Supply chain 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, supply chain managers rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 18% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy supply chain 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Purchasing manager | 2.9 | $127k |
| Energy broker | 2.8 | $55k |
| Industrial production manager | 2.8 | $103k |
| Sales engineer | 2.8 | $104k |
| Risk management specialist | 2.8 | $73k |
| Supply chain manager | 2.8 | $125k |
| Budget analyst | 2.8 | $80k |
| Sales manager | 2.8 | $127k |
| Quality control inspector | 2.8 | $49k |
| Executive assistant | 2.8 | $62k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are supply chain managers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do supply chain managers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as supply chain managers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are supply chain manager’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are supply chain managers making the best use of their abilities?
Are supply chain managers happy with their salary?
Supply chain managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.3/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most supply chain managers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked supply chain managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
621 supply chain managers
16% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 5 stars
32% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 3 stars
18% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 2 stars
9% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do supply chain managers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, supply chain managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of supply chain managers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked supply chain managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
623 supply chain managers
8% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
14% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
27% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
28% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as supply chain managers?
Supply chain managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of supply chain managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked supply chain managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
675 supply chain managers
21% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 5 stars
41% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a supply chain manager’s work environment?
As a whole, supply chain managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked supply chain managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
682 supply chain managers
14% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 3 stars
18% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are supply chain managers making the best use of their abilities?
Former supply chain managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Supply chain managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked supply chain managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
683 supply chain managers
12% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
14% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars