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
$70k
Energy broker
2.8
$55k
Industrial production manager
2.8
$59k
Sales engineer
2.8
$78k
Risk management specialist
2.8
$90k
Supply chain manager
2.8
$72k
Budget analyst
2.8
$67k
Sales manager
2.8
$63k
Quality control inspector
2.8
$39k
Executive assistant
2.8
$49k

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

5 Star
16%

16% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of supply chain managers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
9%

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

5 Star
8%

8% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of supply chain managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
28%

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

5 Star
21%

21% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
41%

41% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of supply chain managers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

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

5 Star
14%

14% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of supply chain managers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
8%

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

5 Star
12%

12% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of supply chain managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars