Computer and Internet Use At Work Summary
Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 05-1457
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: 691-5902 Tuesday, August 2, 2005
(This release was reissued on Wednesday, August 10, to correct the
September 2001 data for workers of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity in table A.
No other data were affected.)
COMPUTER AND INTERNET USE AT WORK IN 2003
In October 2003, 77 million persons used a computer at work, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. These
workers accounted for 55.5 percent of total employment. About 2 of every 5
employed individuals connected to the Internet or used e-mail while on the
job. These proportions were slightly higher than those measured in the
prior survey conducted in September 2001. (See table A.)
These findings are from a special supplement to the October 2003
Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly household survey
that is one of the main sources of information on the U.S. labor force.
The Computer Use Survey also collected data on computer and Internet or
e-mail use at home, school, and work as well as use of the Internet for
job search. The data presented in this release focus on computer and
Internet use at work and on job search methods using the Internet. For
additional information about the survey, see the Technical Note. Some
of the highlights from the 2003 survey include:
--The proportion of workers who used a computer at work was higher for
women (61.8 percent) than for men (49.9 percent).
--Employed women had a greater likelihood of using the Internet at work
than employed men (45.1 and 38.7 percent, respectively).
--Asians were more likely than whites, blacks, or Hispanics or Latinos
to use a computer and the Internet at work.
--The likelihood of computer and Internet use at work is greater for
workers with more education.
--In terms of occupation, there were large variations in the proportions
of workers who used a computer at work. The computer-use rate was
relatively high for managers and professionals (about 80 percent)
and sales and office workers (67 percent). In contrast, about 26
percent of workers in natural resources, construction, and main-
tenance and production, transportation, and material moving occu-
pations used a computer at work.
--The most commonly reported task for the 77 million workers who used a
computer at work was accessing the Internet or using e-mail.
--Slightly more than 1 in every 10 individuals in the civilian noninsti-
tutional population age 16 and over reported that they had used the
Internet between January and October 2003 to search for a job. (The
concept of job search used in the survey is different from that used
in the basic monthly CPS; see the Technical Note for more informa-
tion.) Reading on-line ads and researching information on potential
employers were the most commonly used Internet job search methods used.
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Table A. Computer and Internet use at work by selected characteristics, September 2001 and October 2003
September 2001 r October 2003
Used a computer Used the Internet Used a computer Used the Internet
at work at work at work at work
Total Total
employed employed
Percent Percent Percent Percent
Total of Total of Total of Total of
employed employed employed employed
AGE AND SEX
Total, 16 years
and over...... 137,050 73,055 53.3 52,463 38.3 138,823 76,986 55.5 57,892 41.7
16 to 24 years...... 19,901 6,994 35.1 3,916 19.7 19,304 6,991 36.2 4,234 21.9
16 to 19 years.... 6,499 1,490 22.9 549 8.4 5,788 1,301 22.5 559 9.7
20 to 24 years.... 13,402 5,504 41.1 3,367 25.1 13,516 5,690 42.1 3,675 27.2
25 years and over... 117,149 66,061 56.4 48,547 41.4 119,519 69,995 58.6 53,658 44.9
25 to 34 years.... 30,847 17,561 56.9 13,109 42.5 30,401 17,641 58.0 13,608 44.8
35 to 44 years.... 35,669 20,700 58.0 15,239 42.7 34,854 20,797 59.7 16,226 46.6
45 to 54 years.... 31,205 18,260 58.5 13,518 43.3 32,221 19,607 60.9 15,017 46.6
55 to 64 years.... 14,916 8,023 53.8 5,739 38.5 17,202 9,930 57.7 7,499 43.6
65 years and
over............ 4,511 1,517 33.6 942 20.9 4,842 2,021 41.7 1,307 27.0
Men................. 73,511 35,023 47.6 26,298 35.8 74,353 37,124 49.9 28,788 38.7
Women............... 63,539 38,032 59.9 26,165 41.2 64,470 39,862 61.8 29,104 45.1
RACE AND HISPANIC OR
LATINO ETHNICITY
White............... 114,426 62,483 54.6 45,002 39.3 115,184 65,193 56.6 49,347 42.8
Black or African
American.......... 15,116 6,511 43.1 4,345 28.7 14,754 6,729 45.6 4,553 30.9
Asian............... 6,159 3,469 56.3 2,696 43.8 5,809 3,523 60.6 2,882 49.6
Hispanic or Latino
ethnicity......... c16,349 c5,211 c31.9 c3,210 c19.6 17,602 5,478 31.1 3,718 21.1
FULL- OR PART-TIME
STATUS
Usually full time on
primary job....... 103,887 59,563 57.3 44,035 42.4 103,757 61,538 59.3 47,472 45.8
Usually part time on
primary job....... 21,412 8,482 39.6 4,891 22.8 22,487 9,708 43.2 6,255 27.8
Hours vary on
primary job....... 11,751 5,009 42.6 3,537 30.1 12,579 5,740 45.6 4,165 33.1
EDUCATIONAL
ATTAINMENT
Total, 25 years
and over...... 117,149 66,061 56.4 48,547 41.4 119,519 69,995 58.6 53,658 44.9
Less than a high
school diploma.... 11,737 1,875 16.0 876 7.5 11,520 1,810 15.7 899 7.8
High school
graduates, no
college (1)....... 35,880 14,440 40.2 8,627 24.0 36,065 15,208 42.2 9,521 26.4
Some college or
associate
degree............ 32,858 19,754 60.1 13,507 41.1 32,455 19,907 61.3 14,445 44.5
Bachelor's degree
and higher (2).... 36,675 29,992 81.8 25,537 69.6 39,479 33,071 83.8 28,793 72.9
Advanced degree.. 12,954 10,893 84.1 9,494 73.3 13,831 11,982 86.6 10,709 77.4
1 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
2 Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
r = revised. Estimates for September 2001 have been revised to reflect the use of Census 2000-based population
controls. See the Technical Note for additional information.
c = corrected.
NOTE: Data refer to computer or Internet use on the sole or primary job. Internet use at work refers to either
connecting to the Internet or using e-mail. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and
Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is
Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.
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Occupation and Industry
Managers and professionals were most likely to use a computer and the
Internet; 79.6 percent reported that they used a computer at work and 67.1
percent used the Internet. Sales and office occupations also had high rates
of computer and Internet use--over two-thirds reported using a computer at
work and nearly half said they used the Internet. In contrast, computer- and
Internet-use rates were lower for service workers (27.5 and 15.9 percent,
respectively), for natural resources, construction, and maintenance workers
(26.4 and 16.6 percent, respectively), and for production, transportation,
and material moving workers (26.0 and 13.9 percent, respectively). (See
table 2.)
As with occupations, there was a great deal of variation by industry
with regard to the use of computers and the Internet. Among private
nonagricultural industries, persons employed in financial activities had
the highest rates of computer (82.4 percent) and Internet use (68.9 percent).
In contrast, computer- and Internet-use rates were lowest in the leisure and
hospitality (30.4 and 17.6 percent, respectively) and construction (28.1
and 21.0 percent, respectively) industries. (See table 2.)
Government workers had an above-average likelihood of using a computer
and the Internet on the job. The proportions of workers in the public
sector that used a computer and the Internet were 69.1 and 56.0 percent,
respectively. By comparison, the computer- and Internet-use rates for
private-sector workers were 53.5 and 39.3 percent, respectively. (See
table 2.) The high computer- and Internet-use rates among government
workers is due, in part, to their occupational concentration. For example,
more than half of all workers in the public sector hold management and pro-
fessional jobs, an occupational category characterized by very high rates
of computer and Internet use. In contrast, the proportion of private-
sector wage and salary workers employed as managers and professionals is
much lower (30.9 percent).
Demographics
The youngest and oldest workers were least likely to use a computer and
the Internet on the job. Among workers ages 16 to 24 and 65 years and over,
about one-third used a computer at work and only about 1 in every 5 said
that they used the Internet. In contrast, about 60 percent of workers ages
25 to 64 used a computer on the job and almost half used the Internet.
(See table 1.)
As was the case in the prior survey, women were more likely than men to
use a computer and the Internet. Computer-use rates for women and men were
61.8 and 49.9 percent, respectively; the Internet-use rate for women was
45.1 percent, compared with 38.7 percent for men. (See table 1.) Although
computer- and Internet-use rates for men and women are fairly similar
within occupations, the greater likelihood of women to use a computer at
work is due largely to their concentration in occupations in which computer
use is most prevalent. For instance, nearly three-fourths of employed
women are in management and professional and sales and office occupations;
the computer-use rate for women in these two occupations combined was very
high (74.8 percent). In contrast, nearly two-fifths of men hold natural
resources, construction, and maintenance and production, transportation,
and material moving jobs. For men, the combined computer-use rate in these
two occupational categories was 26.0 percent--30 percentage points lower
than the rate for all workers.
Computer use at work was more common among Asian workers (60.6 percent)
and whites (56.6 percent) than among black (45.6 percent) or Hispanic or
Latino workers (31.1 percent). In terms of Internet use, 49.6 percent of
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Asians used the Internet at work, compared with 42.8 percent of whites,
30.9 percent of blacks, and 21.1 percent of Hispanics or Latinos. (See
table 1.)
With regard to educational attainment, workers with more years of
schooling were much more likely than those with less education to use
a computer and the Internet at work. For example, computer- and Inter-
net-use rates for workers with advanced degrees were 86.6 and 77.4 per-
cent, respectively. At the other end of the educational spectrum, only
15.7 percent of workers with less than a high school diploma used a com-
puter on the job, and 7.8 percent used the Internet. (See table 1.)
Computer Activity at Work
As was the case in the 2001 survey, the most common use for a computer
at work was to access the Internet or to use e-mail. Of the 77 million
workers who used a computer on the job, 75.2 percent reported that they
used the computer to connect to the Internet or to use e-mail. Other
common tasks included word processing (67.6 percent), working with spread-
sheets or databases (64.2 percent), and calendar or scheduling (56.8 per-
cent). Less common uses were graphics or design (29.7 percent) and pro-
gramming (16.4 percent). (See table 3.)
In terms of occupation, workers in management and professional occu-
pations, who were most likely to use a computer at work, also reported
some of the highest proportions for specific uses of a computer. For
instance, 84.4 percent used a computer to use the Internet or e-mail,
76.9 percent used word processing, and 70.7 percent used spreadsheets
or databases. (See table 4.)
Job Search Activity Using the Internet
In addition to questions concerning computer and Internet use on the
job, the survey also collected information on Internet job search. (The
concept of job search using the Internet differs from the concept of job
search in the basic monthly CPS; see the Technical Note for more infor-
mation.) Respondents were asked if they had used the Internet (at any
location) to search for a job "that year"--from January to October 2003.
Over this period, about 25.5 million individuals, or 11.5 percent of the
civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over, said that they had
used the Internet to search for a job. Internet job search rates were
highest for individuals in the 20-to-24 (21.2 percent), 25-to-34 (19.3
percent), and 35-to-44 year-old (14.3 percent) age groups. (See table 5.)
Men and women were about equally likely to have used the Internet to
search for a job. Also, individuals with more years of schooling were much
more likely than those with the lowest level of education to have used the
Internet to search for a job. The Internet job search rate for college
graduates was 17.6 percent, in contrast to only 2.2 percent for those with
less than a high school diploma. (See table 5.)
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Data on Internet job search activity by occupation and industry are
shown in table 6. The estimates given are limited to the experienced
labor force, that is, the sum of the employed and the unemployed whose
last job was in one of the occupations or industries shown. Of the 146.5
million persons in this group in October 2003, 21.9 million, or 14.9 per-
cent of the total, reported that they used the Internet to look for a job
at some point between January and October 2003. Individuals in management
and professional occupations had the highest rate of Internet job search--
19.3 percent. Among the other major occupational categories, Internet job
search rates ranged from a low of 8.6 percent for natural resources, con-
struction, and maintenance occupations to a high of 17.2 percent for sales
and office occupations.
The most common job search methods reported by Internet jobseekers were
reading on-line ads or job listings (92.6 percent) and researching informa-
tion on potential employers (70.2 percent). Less common methods were sub-
mitting a resume or application (57.0 percent) and posting a resume on a
job listing site or with a service (41.0 percent). This pattern of Internet
job searching was similar, regardless of demographic characteristic, occu-
pation, or industry. (See tables 5 and 6.)
Last Modified Date: August 10, 2005
United States Department of Labor
