In order to answer this question, we first need to examine the role of the Project Coordinator and its relationship to the current demand in Project Management.

What Is the Role of the Project Coordinator?

The main role of the Project Coordinator is simply alleviating some of the load off the Project Manager’s shoulder. The Project Manager usually gives the Project Coordinator some routine or simple tasks that he (the Project Manager) doesn’t have the time to do himself. One of the basic responsibilities of the Project Coordinator is to “coordinate” (hence the title “Project Coordinator”) tasks between the resources. The Project Coordinator also monitors the progress of different tasks at a lower level, and reports the progress to the Project Manager. In some cases, the Project Coordinator might be doing most of the Project Manager’s work (especially resource management and conflict management at the resource level), reducing the workload of the latter to simply verifying and forwarding the different reports (usually to upper management) received by the Project Coordinator. In this case, the Project Coordinator can be considered as a ghost Project Manager, where the former does all the work, but the latter gets all the credit. Nevertheless, the Project Management experience the Project Coordinator gets is priceless.

Do All Companies Have Openings for Project Coordinators?

Usually no. However, this is changing fast, as Project Managers are desperate for delegating routine tasks. Many Project Managers currently delegate such tasks to someone from the project team, which may have a negative effect on that team member’s productivity. This usually convinces Project Managers (who in turn convince HR) that they need dedicated Project Coordinators.

What Is the Current Demand for Project Managers?

For obvious reasons, the demand for Project Coordinators is directly related to that of the Project Managers, since you can’t have Project Coordinators without Project Managers (but not vice versa).

To answer the question, the demand for Project Managers (especially those with a PMP certification) is huge and increasing, and this increase can be described as exponential. Additionally, all the signs are pointing that the increase in demand for Project Managers is sustainable on the long run. This is due to several factors, including:

• The change of culture in companies across the world, where traditional, functional environments are being replaced en masse by projectized environments
• The adoption and appreciation of Project Management across different government bodies all over the world
• The ever increasing number of projects worldwide, especially in developing countries

A prominent Project Management jobs website lists around 500,000 active jobs for Project Managers, and about 50,000 jobs for Project Coordinators. By looking at these numbers, we can roughly deduce that the demand for Project Coordinators is roughly 10% of that of the Project Managers. That percentage is increasing steadily, since as we stated above, Project Managers are realizing that they need Project Coordinators.

What Is the Average Salary for Project Coordinators?

Since people reading this article might also be interested at the Project Coordinator’s salary, here are some numbers:

• The average salary of a Project Coordinator in the US is around $45,000, while that of the Project Manager is around $60,000.
• The average salary of the Project Coordinator is around 75% of that of the Project Manager.
• Salaries for Project Coordinators start at $30,000, while those for Project Managers start at $40,000 (both numbers are in the US).

Conclusion

The demand of Project Coordinators is increasing by the day, and this trend will continue, as the demand for Project Coordinators is directly related to that of Project Managers, which shows no sign of slowing, even during tough times.

© 2010 Project Management Learning – Reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited without the written consent of Project Management Learning.