Procurement professionals are facing burnout as they battle inflation, years of supply chain disruption and pressurised working environments, according to two surveys.
Tough operating environments are expected until 2024 “or beyond” and stressed teams are finding retention more difficult, with roughly a fifth of buyers saying they plan to leave their roles.
Research by Skills Dynamic found almost all (99%) supply chain professionals are concerned about the impact of high employee turnover due to pressurised working conditions, concerns over pay and a lack of recognition for the work they do.
More than half (56%) of senior procurement professionals said employee retention had decreased over the past three years, with 57% saying this was causing problems within the profession.
Almost a quarter (23%) of junior procurement professionals said they intended leaving their role within the next two years. One in five senior procurement professionals (19%) said the same, according to the research, which surveyed 419 UK and US-based supply chain and procurement decision-makers.
Increased workloads were the most cited reason for low retention rates, cited by 62% of supply leaders.
Howard Price, head of procurement content at Skill Dynamics, told Supply Management: “Turbulent supply chains have led to a change in the mix of key procurement skills needed, with increasing demand for problem-solving, analytical and interpersonal skills.”
He said the function is facing a “double whammy” where “procurement team members are overstretched, and yet they don’t have all the skills that they need to cope in these difficult times”.
Price continued: “Increased workload drives employee churn both directly and indirectly. Directly, when people leave because they feel overwhelmed by what they’re being asked to do, and indirectly, when that workload is then handed to other employees – who also then feel overwhelmed and leave.”
Overall, 43% of supply chain and procurement professionals said they were concerned about skill shortages and 31% said difficulties with recruitment were a “significant issue”. Almost half (48%) said they were most worried about the loss of critical skills that low retention rates bring, “which will render work yet more difficult for those remaining in the supply chain organisation”.
The report said: “The picture is clear: ‘the great resignation’ is no transient phenomenon, but is instead an everyday reality of business-as-usual in today’s supply chain and procurement organisations. At a time when the challenges facing these teams are greater than ever, now they are finding it difficult to retain employees, or unlock their full potential.”
Separate research by Ivalua found two-thirds (66%) of 170 procurement and supply chain professionals surveyed from across the world said the “great resignation” was posing new risks to the sector, “with frustrated or burnt-out employees moving between jobs and industries, leaving many companies in the lurch”.
Ivalua’s report, Procurement Under Pressure, found stress and pressurised working environments were resulting in a third (32%) of procurement teams “cutting corners” with sourcing criteria to secure supply, while 81% felt pressured by executives to respond to challenges “more quickly and effectively”.
Half (49%) believed global supply chains wouldn’t recover to pre-Covid operational norms until at least 2024.
“There’s never been a more pressure-filled time to be in procurement or supply management,” Ivalua said. “It’s clear that ‘the new normal’ of supply chain disruptions, stockouts, inflation and the perennial threat of a new Covid variant and its potential impact will persist.”