Contract worker vs senior purchasing agent

The differences between contract workers and senior purchasing agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a contract worker and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, which is higher than the $70,825 average annual salary of a contract worker.

The top three skills for a contract worker include financial statements, SQL and payroll. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.

Contract worker vs senior purchasing agent overview

	Contract Worker	Senior Purchasing Agent
Yearly salary	$70,825	$73,386
Hourly rate	$34.05	$35.28
Growth rate	-8%	-6%
Number of jobs	36,853	43,833
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

What does a contract worker do?

A contract worker is an independent contractor who only works at companies for a limited amount of time, according to agreed-upon contract terms. When it comes to employment, a contract worker may find opportunities in different industries, depending upon their set of skills and abilities. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their company or industry of employment, it typically includes performing basic tasks, maintaining an active communication line with co-workers, and adhering to company policies and regulations.

What does a senior purchasing agent do?

Senior Purchasing Agents are experienced employees in the company's purchasing department. They oversee the purchase requisitions of the employees. They validate requests, ensure that the requestors followed company guidelines, check the availability of the items with the chosen supplier, and forward the purchase order to the supplier. Upon fulfillment of the request, Senior Purchasing Agents check the deliveries, ensure that the items are complete and correct, forward the items to the requestor, and process the payment for the supplier. Senior Purchasing agents also prepare reports, spot trends in employee or department purchases, and create recommendations based on observations. They are also expected to form good working relationships with suppliers.

Contract worker vs senior purchasing agent salary

Contract workers and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Worker	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average salary	$70,825	$73,386
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $95,000	Between $52,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Levi Strauss & Co.
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between contract worker and senior purchasing agent education

There are a few differences between a contract worker and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:

	Contract Worker	Senior Purchasing Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Contract worker vs senior purchasing agent demographics

Here are the differences between contract workers' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:

	Contract Worker	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8%	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 7.4% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between contract worker and senior purchasing agent duties and responsibilities

Contract worker example responsibilities.

Assist management in facilitating start-up QSR accounts while effectively managing GPO accounts.
Procure common hardware, plumbing and MRO materials.
Network within the community to find potential members that are recipients of Medicare/ Medicaid benefits.
Work on multiple accounts providing payroll advice and walking through setup and process of running payroll online.
Supervise a staff of ten HVAC installers and technicians, providing ongoing field training and troubleshooting support.
Follow QA prints to determine the location and layout of various size brackets for various size SCBA bottles.

Senior purchasing agent example responsibilities.

Manage patterns for older, obsolete OEM part outsource production to locally foundries.
Interact within an ERP system environment and manage various reporting tools to support operations and control the flow of information.
Manage subcontracts activity including RFQ analysis, major negotiations and construction of complex subcontracting orders and milestones.
Provide management for warehousing, transportation, documentation requirements, cost analysis, third-party logistics, and reverse logistics.
Help create new purchasing procurement program base on customer forecasting and JIT programs (KANBAN).
Update & maintain ERP system part master data including new item creation, discontinuations and site planning changes.

Contract worker vs senior purchasing agent skills

Common contract worker skills

Financial Statements, 17%
SQL, 15%
Payroll, 10%
Computer System, 10%
Assembly Line, 8%
PowerPoint, 7%

Common senior purchasing agent skills

Purchase Orders, 8%
Project Management, 6%
Supplier Relationships, 6%
Strategic Sourcing, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 5%

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Contract Worker vs Senior Purchasing Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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