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Business & Finance · Updated Aug 2026

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

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.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
68/100
High

How much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.

Replacement Risk
60/100
High

How likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.

Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured

Evidence quality
Confidence83/100
Task coverage86%

Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.

Task-level evidence

What is driving the score?

Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.High
74
Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.High
74
Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.High
73
Maintain and review computerized or manual records of purchased items, costs, deliveries, product performance, and inventories.Medium
73
Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.High
72
Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.High
74
Negotiate, renegotiate, and administer contracts with suppliers, vendors, and other representatives.High
71
Study sales records and inventory levels of current stock to develop strategic purchasing programs that facilitate employee access to supplies.Medium
73
Evaluate and monitor contract performance to ensure compliance with contractual obligations and to determine need for changes.High
58
Review catalogs, industry periodicals, directories, trade journals, and Internet sites and consult with other department personnel to locate necessary goods and services.Medium
74
Confer with staff, users, and vendors to discuss defective or unacceptable goods or services and determine corrective action.Medium
65
Hire, train, or supervise purchasing clerks, buyers, and expediters.High
72
Monitor shipments to ensure that goods come in on time, and resolve problems related to undelivered goods.Medium
38
Formulate policies and procedures for bid proposals and procurement of goods and services.High
74
Monitor changes affecting supply and demand, tracking market conditions, price trends, or futures markets.Medium
33
Attend meetings, trade shows, conferences, conventions, and seminars to network with people in other purchasing departments.Medium
74
Interview vendors and visit suppliers' plants and distribution centers to examine and learn about products, services, and prices.Medium
52
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.

  1. Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.74
  2. Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.74
  3. Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.74
  4. Review catalogs, industry periodicals, directories, trade journals, and Internet sites and consult with other department personnel to locate necessary goods and services.74
Hardest to automate

Where people still matter

These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.

  1. Monitor changes affecting supply and demand, tracking market conditions, price trends, or futures markets.01
  2. Monitor shipments to ensure that goods come in on time, and resolve problems related to undelivered goods.02
  3. Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.03
  4. Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.04
  5. Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.05
Where else this work leads

Related occupations

Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.

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Beyond AI capability

Adoption and labour-market outlook

Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.

Human dependency76
Physical dependency22
Adoption pressure67
Labour-market resilience55
Methodology & sources

O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.

Confidence83/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →