Supply, distribution and related managers
AI can help with a few sub-tasks (emails, paperwork), but the core of the job doesn't change.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
🤖 Written with AIThis text was written by artificial intelligence from the data points shown; it is built on verified figures but may contain mistakes.· 13/10/2026How is it made?
Exposure score 38/100 suggests limited, mainly augmentative change. AI will streamline records, monitoring and planning, while managers retain negotiation, people leadership and operational accountability. The broader occupational group is forecast to grow 27.8% by 2035.
What changes
- Automating purchase, storage and distribution transaction recording, checks and exception flagging.
- Improving inventory monitoring, stock-level analysis and alerts for supply risks.
- Drafting purchasing, storage, distribution and customer-forwarding plans from operational data.
What stays human
- Negotiating supplier trade-offs across quality, cost, delivery reliability and long-term relationships.
- Leading staff selection, training, performance conversations and accountability.
- Directing daily operations when disruptions demand judgment, coordination and rapid decisions.
What to learn
- Learn AI-assisted inventory forecasting, scenario testing and exception management.
- Strengthen supplier negotiation, contract judgment and relationship management.
- Build data governance skills for traceable purchasing and logistics records.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Overseeing the recording of purchase, storage and distribution transactions46
- Monitoring and reviewing storage and inventory systems to meet supply requirements and control stock levels45
- Determining, implementing and monitoring purchasing, storage and distribution strategies, policies and plans44
- Liaising with other departments and customers concerning requirements for outward goods and associated forwarding transportation44
- Preparing and implementing plans to maintain required stock levels at minimum cost41
- Establishing and managing budgets, controlling expenditure and ensuring the efficient use of resources39
- Overseeing the dispatch of road vehicles, trains, vessels or aircraft37
- Establishing and directing operational and administrative procedures37
- Operating recording systems to track all movements of goods, and ensuring reordering and restocking at optimal times35
- Planning and directing daily operations33
- Overseeing the selection, training and performance of staff.32
- Negotiating contracts with suppliers to meet quality, cost and delivery requirements32
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Overseeing the recording of purchase, storage and distribution transactions(46)
- Monitoring and reviewing storage and inventory systems to meet supply requirements and control stock levels(45)
- Determining, implementing and monitoring purchasing, storage and distribution strategies, policies and plans(44)
- Liaising with other departments and customers concerning requirements for outward goods and associated forwarding transportation(44)
- Preparing and implementing plans to maintain required stock levels at minimum cost(41)
- Establishing and managing budgets, controlling expenditure and ensuring the efficient use of resources(39)
- Overseeing the dispatch of road vehicles, trains, vessels or aircraft(37)
- Establishing and directing operational and administrative procedures(37)
- Operating recording systems to track all movements of goods, and ensuring reordering and restocking at optimal times(35)
- Planning and directing daily operations(33)
- Overseeing the selection, training and performance of staff.(32)
- Negotiating contracts with suppliers to meet quality, cost and delivery requirements(32)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 38.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Overseeing the recording of purchase, storage and distribution transactions
- • Monitoring and reviewing storage and inventory systems to meet supply requirements and control stock levels
- • Negotiating contracts with suppliers to meet quality, cost and delivery requirements
- • Overseeing the selection, training and performance of staff.
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Production and specialised services managers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Production and specialised services managers |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 5.5% · 1,892 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 4.6% · 32 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 4.1% · 115 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 3.2% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 3.2% · 54 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 3.1% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 3.0% · 158 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.8% · 82 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 2.8% · 80 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 2.7% · 140 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.7% · 24 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 2.5% · 118 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 2.5% · 728 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 2.5% · 119 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 2.4% · 238 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 2.3% · 33 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 2.2% · 381 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 2.1% · 109 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 1.9% · 49 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 1.9% · 84 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 1.9% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 1.7% · 91 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 1.4% · 341 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 1.4% · 14 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 1.3% · 569 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 1.3% · 34 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 1.3% · 292 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 1.2% · 38 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 0.9% · 72 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 0.9% · 38 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Managers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland8,354
- Italy7,983
- Luxembourg7,683
- Belgium7,390
- Germany7,172
- Denmark6,654
- Austria6,190
- Ireland6,181
- Finland6,101
- Cyprus5,842
- Norway5,718
- Iceland5,653
- Netherlands5,508
- EU275,374
- France5,226
- Sweden4,960
- Slovenia4,808
- Spain4,699
- Czechia4,257
- Portugal4,203
- Greece4,190
- Malta4,128
- Poland4,112
- Romania4,078
- Lithuania4,031
- Hungary3,641
- Bulgaria3,559
- Croatia3,524
- Slovakia3,418
- Estonia3,290
- Latvia3,288
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Production and specialised services managers group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?