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Employment Projections
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Employment Projections > Publications > Factsheets

Occupational openings and separations

Occupational openings

Occupational openings provide an estimate of opportunities for new workers to enter an occupation. Estimates of occupational openings are used for career information and workforce development purposes to give a more complete picture of the demand for workers.

Occupational openings are defined as the sum of net occupational employment change (new jobs) and occupational separations. Occupational openings indicate that opportunities often exist in occupations with flat or declining employment where the incumbent worker has left the occupation.

Occupational openings. Occupational openings can occur from increased demand for new jobs and from the need to replace workers who separate from an occupation; new jobs created; or occupational separations.

 

Occupational separations

To project occupational openings, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates an estimate of separations caused by workers exiting the labor force (labor force exits) [1] due to retirement or other reasons, and separations caused by workers transferring to different occupations (occupational transfers). Workers who change jobs within an occupation do not generate openings since there is no net change in openings from this movement.

In most occupations, openings due to separations of existing workers provide many more opportunities than employment growth does.

Occupational separations. Occupational separations can be from labor force exits, or workers who leave the labor force entirely (e.g., retire); or from occupational transfers, where workers find employment in a different occupation.

 

For more information

More information about occupational separations, including a list of frequently asked questions, are available online.

The Employment Projections (EP) program has more details on methodology and concepts throughout the BLS Handbook of Methods. For additional information about the EP program, please contact us at (202) 691-5700 or ep-info@bls.gov.

[1] This isn't it's own category; rather, it's a description of the aforementioned "workers exiting the labor force".

Last modified date: August 27, 2026