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Standard Occupational Classification

Bureau of Labor Statistics > Standard Occupational Classification > About > Notices

Federal Register notice for the 2028 SOC

1^st Federal Register notice for the 2028 SOC published

On June 12, 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published the Federal Register notice announcing review of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual for possible revision in 2028 and soliciting comment on: the intention to retain the 2018 SOC Classification Principles; the intention to retain the 2018 SOC Coding Guidelines; the intention to retain the 2018 SOC Major Group Structure; the option to develop definitions for major occupation groups; whether to consider changes to, or consolidation of, selected 2018 SOC detailed occupations, including specifically public safety telecommunicators; whether to consider the addition of new detailed occupations or occupational groups, including specifically care workers; possible changes to major, minor, and broad occupation groups; proposals for new detailed occupations; initial recommendations on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) groups; and uses and applications of the SOC. This review and possible revision of the 2018 SOC is intended to be completed by the beginning of 2027 and then released to begin use in reference year 2028.

Comments should be submitted by August 12, 2024 through www.regulations.gov —a Federal E-Government website that allows the public to find, review, and submit comments on documents that agencies have published in the Federal Register and that are open for comment. Enter “BLS-2024-0001” (in quotes) in the Comment or Submission search box, click Go, and follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments received by the date specified above will be included as part of the official record. Please include the Docket ID (BLS-2024-0001) and the phrase ‘‘Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) – Updates for 2028” at the beginning of your comments.

The SOCPC encourages those interested in providing input to the next revision or would like more background on the SOC to carefully review information provided in "Input Requested by the SOC Policy Committee" (PDF), which is a section of "Revising the Standard Occupational Classification" (PDF), a larger document that more fully describes the history and structure of the SOC. Commenters are also encouraged to submit their input using the “SOC Suggestions Template” (XLS). This will help ensure that the most relevant information is included. Instructions for completing and submitting the template are included within the spreadsheet.

Tentative schedule for revising the 2018 SOC for 2028
Event	Date
1st Federal Register notice soliciting public input	June 12, 2024
SOCPC reviews public input, Federal agency input, and conducts own research; develops and forwards initial recommendations to OMB	TBD
2nd Federal Register notice with SOCPC initial recommendations to OMB	TBD
3rd Federal Register notice announcing the final 2028 SOC structure, and occupation codes and titles	2027
Federal statistical agencies implement 2028 SOC	Beginning 2028