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United States Department of Labor
Standing or walking versus sitting on the job in 2016
March 01, 2017
Most jobs require some standing or walking and some sitting. Across all civilian jobs in 2016, workers needed to spend an average of 61.0 percent of the workday standing or walking and 39.0 percent of the workday sitting. The mix of standing versus sitting varied by the occupation. For example, waiters and waitresses spent 96.3 percent of their workday standing or walking and just 3.7 percent sitting.
| Occupation | Standing or walking | Sitting |
|---|---|---|
|
All jobs |
61.0% | 39.0% |
|
Waiters and waitresses |
96.3 | 3.7 |
|
Welders, cutters, and welder fitters |
90.0 | 10.0 |
|
Retail salespersons |
89.2 | 10.8 |
|
Electricians |
88.2 | 11.8 |
|
Pharmacists |
78.1 | 21.9 |
|
Elementary school teachers, except special education |
74.5 | 25.5 |
|
Physical therapists |
73.6 | 26.4 |
|
Childcare workers |
68.0 | 32.0 |
|
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics |
47.5 | 52.5 |
|
Librarians |
46.7 | 53.3 |
|
Mechanical engineers |
26.3 | 73.7 |
|
Human resources managers |
24.6 | 75.4 |
|
Lawyers |
24.1 | 75.9 |
|
Insurance sales agents |
19.7 | 80.3 |
|
Accountants |
19.3 | 80.7 |
|
Bus drivers, school or special client |
17.6 | 82.4 |
|
Software developers, applications |
10.0 | 90.0 |
Welders, cutters, and welder fitters spent an average of 90.0 percent of their workday standing or walking. Other occupations in which workers spent much of their workday on their feet include retail salespersons (89.2 percent), electricians (88.2 percent), and pharmacists (78.1 percent).
Software developers, applications, spent an average of 90.0 percent of their workday sitting in 2016. Other occupations in which workers sit most of the day include bus drivers, school or special client, who spent an average of 82.4 percent of their workday sitting, accountants (80.7 percent), and insurance sales agents (80.3 percent).
These data are from the Occupational Requirements Survey. To learn more, see "Occupational Requirements in the United States — 2016" (HTML) (PDF).
SUGGESTED CITATION
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Standing or walking versus sitting on the job in 2016 on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/standing-or-walking-versus-sitting-on-the-job-in-2016.htm (visited January 25, 2020).
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