What the 2026 CIPS & Hays Salary Guide Means for Your Procurement Career

If you work in procurement or supply chain, this is the report you wait for every year. On 9 July, CIPS and Hays launched the 2026 Procurement & Supply Salary Guide — and it’s their biggest one yet, built on insight from over 7,000 procurement and supply professionals around the world.

We’ve been digging into what it says, and the headline is a good one: this is shaping up to be a genuinely strong year to be in procurement.

Why This Report Matters

If you’ve never come across it before, the CIPS & Hays Salary Guide is the industry’s go-to benchmark. It’s been running for over a decade, and it’s what most procurement professionals use to answer the question “am I being paid fairly?”

This year’s edition is the most comprehensive to date: a full global report, plus 11 regional deep-dives, including a dedicated breakdown for the UK and Ireland. So whether you’re comparing your salary to the national picture or want to know exactly how your region and sector stack up, there’s real data behind it rather than guesswork.

The Headline: “Your Time to Shine”

CIPS chose the theme “Your Time to Shine” for this year’s launch, and it’s not just marketing spin. The findings point to a profession that’s in demand, still commanding pay ahead of the wider UK jobs market, and being taken more seriously at the top table than ever before.

CIPS Global CEO Ben Farrell summed up what the guide is really for:

“This year’s Salary Guide provides insight into what that means for careers, capability and the future of our profession.”

— Ben Farrell, Global Chief Executive Officer, CIPS

That’s worth sitting with for a second. This isn’t just a spreadsheet of average salaries — it’s a snapshot of where the profession is heading, and what skills and experience are going to matter most as it gets there.

What It Means for You

A few things stand out that are worth thinking about, whatever stage you’re at:

Qualifications still move the needle. Year after year, this survey confirms what we see with our own students: holding a recognised CIPS qualification consistently correlates with higher pay and more career mobility. If you’ve been putting off starting (or finishing) your CIPS journey, this is exactly the kind of data that makes the case to yourself — or to your employer — for investing in it.

Skills are shifting, not disappearing. With AI and automation reshaping how procurement teams operate, the professionals who stand out aren’t the ones who resist the change — they’re the ones who can direct it. Negotiation, supplier relationship management, and category strategy remain firmly at the core of what makes someone valuable, AI tools or not.

It’s a good moment to ask for more. If you’re due a review, or thinking about your next move, having sector-wide, credible data behind you changes the conversation. “I think I deserve a rise” is a much weaker starting point than “here’s what CIPS and Hays’ 2026 UK data says people in my role and region are earning.”

Where to Get the Full Picture

The full Salary Guide — including the UK-specific regional report — is available to download directly from CIPS. It’s well worth setting aside twenty minutes with a coffee to go through it properly, especially if you’re planning your next career step. Download it here: cips.org/careers/salary-guide

Thinking About Where You Sit on the Salary Guide?

The data is consistent on one point: CIPS qualifications and structured professional development are directly linked to higher earning potential. If that’s prompted you to think about starting your CIPS journey or picking it back up our team would be glad to talk you through the options, from Level 2 right through to Level 6, in a way that fits around your job and your life.

Call us on 01254 945 902 or drop us a line at enquiries@cipsbusinesstraining.co.uk.