Supply Chain Managers

Supply chain managers will continue to be needed to manage and improve production processes. Competition for work will be keen so those with a bachelor's degree in supply chain management and certification will have the best job prospects. Supply chain managers are in particular demand now due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted global supply chains. Unusually high demand for certain products has created shortages and shortfalls in meetings consumers' needs. Companies will need supply chain managers to help balance supply and demand.

The manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries are expected to have average growth through 2029, according to the Department of Labor (DOL). Companies will be looking for ways to create leaner manufacturing processes and supply chain managers with experience in this area will be in demand. Job growth for supply chain managers may be tempered, however, by the increasing popularity of retaining third-party agents to provide supply assessments and product and market research.

The wholesale trade sector will offer opportunities for supply chain managers in the coming years. This sector is part of the supply chain of manufacturing, retail trade, and other sectors. Logisticians are expected to have average employment growth (4 percent) through 2029, and will be needed for help with lowering costs and improving business operations.

Industrial production managers are projected to have slower than average employment growth the next few years, but some recent "reshoring" activities by manufacturers may create more job opportunities. Reshoring is when companies and workers that had been located overseas are relocated to the United States. "Domestic sourcing," in which manufacturing plants and businesses are built in lower cost areas of the United States, has also been growing recently, which may offer more jobs for industrial production managers. According to the DOL, industrial production managers will find more job opportunities in motor vehicle parts manufacturing, machine shops, and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing.