# Procurement Clerks

> Compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services.

- **SOC code:** 43-3061.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-3061-00
- **Also known as:** Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Clerk, Purchasing Specialist, Procurement Assistant, Procurement Officer, Purchasing Assistant, Purchasing Associate
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders.
- Perform buying duties when necessary.
- Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
- Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
- Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.
- Approve and pay bills.
- Maintain knowledge of all organizational and governmental rules affecting purchases, and provide information about these rules to organization staff members and to vendors.
- Determine if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary.
- Check shipments when they arrive to ensure that orders have been filled correctly and that goods meet specifications.
- Contact suppliers to schedule or expedite deliveries and to resolve shortages, missed or late deliveries, and other problems.
- Prepare, maintain, and review purchasing files, reports and price lists.
- Review requisition orders to verify accuracy, terminology, and specifications.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Administrative _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Written Expression _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology, in demand)_
- SAP software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft SharePoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Windows _(hot technology)_
- Oracle Database _(hot technology)_
- Oracle PeopleSoft _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 95th percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 99th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 90th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 82nd percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 97th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -8.7% growth (Declining); 4.6k annual openings; 61.9k → 56.6k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $48,510; 59,900 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 49% automation, 35% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Prepare, maintain, and review purchasing files, reports and price lists. _(0.6% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me prepare, maintain, and review purchasing files, reports and price lists.
- Help me compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-3061-00_