Procurement teams are facing a critical training and capability gap that threatens businesses' ability to reduce costs, drive productivity and mitigate supply disruptions, according to new research released by Procurious. According to the research - The Procurement Skills and Training Gap - over 90% of procurement leaders say skills shortfalls are already impacting their ability to deliver on business objectives.
"The procurement function has a generational opportunity to shape the business and economic decisions of the next decade, but businesses must invest in the people expected to lead it. Too often, capability development prioritises sales and revenue growth, leaving those managing cost, risk and compliance under-resourced and under-skilled," said Tania Seary, Founder of Procurious. "Closing the gap requires more than static curricula and occasional training. Procurement professionals need ongoing learning that keeps pace with changing markets, supply chains and technology, informed by what peers are trying and which approaches are delivering results."
Procurious' research highlights three issues CPOs can't afford to ignore:
- The future procurement professional will need more than technical fluency. Behind AI and digital fluency, respondents rank stakeholder engagement and influence (42%) and commercial acumen (39%) as the next priority skills for 2030.
- Capability gaps are affecting the bottom line and increasing supply chain risk. If procurement's current skill gaps are left unaddressed over the next 12 to 24 months, respondents expect a negative impact on cost savings and cost avoidance, procurement team productivity and output per FTE, regulatory compliance and audit risk and supply chain disruptions.
- Training systems and investment have not kept up with procurement's elevated role. Almost 60% have no formal procurement capability or skills framework. Sixty-six percent say their current training budget is insufficient.
"As AI takes over more of our transactional work, procurement's critical role in the business will only grow," said Seary. "Procurement leaders will have to make tough commercial calls on supplier strategy, markets and risk, and those are the calls that keep a company competitive. Procurement can't build that capability on its own. The business has to put time and money behind it."
"Procurement is a profession built on relationships, judgement and influence," said Jade Cusworth, Global L&D Director, Procurious+. "People develop those by pulling in outside expertise, working through real problems and comparing notes with peers who are facing the same ones. And it has to be constant, because the job keeps changing while teams wait for next year's training program."