State of the project manager: Growing demand for project-based professionals is fast fueling a worldwide talent gap, leading to substantial career opportunities in project management — and salaries that can be expected to rise considerably.

Organizations are increasingly relying on project management professionals to implement strategic initiatives, drive change and deliver on innovation. And whole industries just now realizing the value of project management are expected to spur a boom in demand for project management skills in the coming decade, according to the a recent report from the Project Management Institute.

Project managers, especially, bring a valuable set of skills and knowledge that organizations will increasingly need to execute strategic projects in the years ahead. However, the PMI report reveals a troubling gap between the increasing demand and expected availability of skilled project professionals from 2017 to 2027. This gap spells significant career opportunities for those interested in pursuing a career in project management — and rising salaries.

Magnitude of the skills gap

By 2027, employers will need to fill nearly 90 million project management related roles, according to the PMI report, which was completed by Anderson Economic Group. These roles include project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, schedulers, business analysts, change management experts and others.

Fueling this increase is the fact that various industries across the U.S. are adopting a more project-oriented model in recognition of the benefits around goal attainment and strategic focus. Attrition rates, including retirements, are a second catalyst for the expected project management skills gap. Here is a look at the growing demand for project professionals within some of these industries as a result of attrition and expansion.

• 7 million jobs in manufacturing and construction
• 5 million jobs in information services and publishing
• 6 million jobs in finance and insurance
• 7 million jobs in management and professional services
• 279,000 jobs in utilities
• 49,000 jobs in oil & gas

Project management goes global

But the increased reliance on project management in the next decade isn’t isolated to the United States alone. The projected skills gap for project management professionals will affect many countries across the globe. If the project management skills gap continues and roles go unfilled, the result could be a potential GDP loss of 208 billion dollars in 11 countries collectively (United Kingdom, United States, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Germany, China, Canada, Brazil, and Australia), according to the report.

Estimated project management jobs by country 2017-2027

How does a skills gap translate into opportunities?

The project management skills gap will translate to substantial opportunity for those pursuing a career in project management. With project management professionals earning on average 82 percent more than non-project-oriented professionals, the estimated increases in project-related jobs (2.1 million in the U.S. alone) over the next decade will open up a large number of well-paying job opportunities.

The demand for skilled project professionals indicate they are valuable to businesses interested in more accurately executing on strategy and driving excellence. This demand will also continue to elevate the salaries for these high-value professionals. PMI’s ninth edition salary survey shows an annual median of $108,200 for project managers working in the U.S. Here are additional annual U.S. median salaries by years experience, certification status, position, project team size and project management technique.

Project management salaries based on experience

Project management salaries based on PMP certification status PMP Status Median Salary

Project management salaries by title

Project management salaries by team size

Project management salaries based on PM technique employed

Source: PMI Project Management Salary Survey

To find out more information on this skills gap, the impact, and how it is opening up significant job opportunities for those interested in a project-management related career, read PMI’s skills gap report.
Source: mavenlink