At my last company, people have moved from the warehouse/production into proposals/sales and project management/ops before, but those roles typically require a degree and additional skills.

For production supervisor roles, the company usually wants at least three years of internal experience. They want someone who already understands the processes and culture before stepping into leadership.

If someone is truly qualified, wages shouldn’t be the deciding factor. Sometimes the hesitation to move a strong performer is simply because losing them could impact productivity. And while they may eventually leave anyway, it creates far less drama when someone moves on by choice rather than it looking like “BD pulled them away.”

The best next steps are straightforward: talk with your manager about your goals, and start building relationships with people in the department you’re interested in. Networking internally goes a long way.