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General manager vs project manager

The differences between general managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $71,581 average annual salary of a general manager.

The top three skills for a general manager include customer service, cleanliness and food safety. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

General manager vs project manager overview

General ManagerProject Manager
Yearly salary$71,581$91,578
Hourly rate$34.41$44.03
Growth rate6%8%
Number of jobs442,690167,116
Job satisfaction4.254.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4447
Years of experience6-

What does a general manager do?

A general manager is responsible for handling the overall operations in the business. General managers manage the staff tasks efficiently, monitor the productivity and efficiency of the work environment, implement new strategies to improve the business performance, recognize the team's best efforts, and effective allocation of budget resources. A general manager must have excellent communication, decision-making, and critical-thinking skills to identify areas of improvement in handling customer complaints, connecting with vendors and other lines of businesses that will direct the company towards its successful objectives.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

General manager vs project manager salary

General managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

General ManagerProject Manager
Average salary$71,581$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $126,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyNVIDIAThe Citadel
Best paying industryManufacturingTechnology

Differences between general manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a general manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

General ManagerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

General manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between general managers' and project managers' demographics:

General ManagerProject Manager
Average age4447
Gender ratioMale, 70.7% Female, 29.3%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between general manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

General manager example responsibilities.

  • Generate positive EBITDA and improve cash flow by managing costs and inventory.
  • Manage all recruiting and training efforts, and develop systems to track ROI comparison results.
  • Work as a FOH AGM and train to manage all staff functions including training, hiring, food and labor controls.
  • Develop yearly budget for multiple hotels that include revenue, labor, fix and variable costs to achieve overall EBITDA goal.
  • Task primarily with building logistics infrastructure, managing operational expenses, and supporting start up strategies.
  • Train and manage FOH staff and improve overall quality, organization and professionalism of restaurant and bakery.
    • Show more

Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
    • Show more

General manager vs project manager skills

Common general manager skills
  • Customer Service, 20%
  • Cleanliness, 18%
  • Food Safety, 7%
  • Guest Service, 4%
  • Payroll, 4%
  • Math, 4%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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