In 2026, the Project Management profession continues to be at the top of the list for jobs that are accessible, relatively high-paying and in-demand. To such an extent that the demand for Project Managers in the workforce is projected to increase by 64% worldwide by 2035. That’s approximately 2.3 million new job openings every year.
The reason behind the demand is due to companies investing heavily in efficiency, innovation and (as always) their bottom line. Companies want the clearest path to success so they are investing in Project Managers to organize, implement and strategize to hit the business goals.
As far as Project Manager salaries in 2026 — there’s good news and bad news.
The bad news is, this past year we saw a lot of external factors that slowed wage growth across all industries.
Economic uncertainty, the increasing unemployment rate, and the pressures of emerging tech all contributed to the stalling of wage increases for PMs in 2025 and unfortunately, this is expected to be the same in 2026 even though the demand for PMs is high.
But the good news is — demand is high.
Even though there are certain industries having shortfalls in hirings for PMs, there is a large global demand and growth in new PM jobs every year. This means, companies will have to get competitive with their compensation packages to secure and keep top project management talent or they will lose out to the highest bidder.
Even though we may not know what the world will look like a few years from now or even a few weeks from now — the silver-lining is that overall Project Management is still seen as a stable, and accessible career path in today’s global market.
Project Manager Salary — National Average:
See open roles for Project Managers today.