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May the (Labor) Force be with You

May 04, 2026

May the 4th (Force) be with you. Workers, especially those required to lift or carry as a part of their job, might wish they had the Force (the special power used by Jedi to help lift objects)! In 2025, the median—50th percentile—maximum weight required to be lifted or carried for all civilian workers was 15 pounds. At the 10th percentile, or lowest 10 percent, the required maximum weight was less than 0.05 pounds, and 50 pounds was required at the 90th percentile—the highest 10 percent.

Selected percentiles of maximum weight lifted or carried for all civilian workers, in pounds, 2025
PercentileNumber of pounds

10th percentile

<0.05

25th percentile

5.00

50th percentile (median)

15.00

75th percentile

45.00

90th percentile

50.00

Note: The lowest 10th percentile is less than 0.05 pounds.

Workers have many other requirements for which they might appreciate some special powers. For all civilian workers in 2025, greater than 99.5 percent required gross manipulation (Darth Vader’s feared Force grip) and 60.8 percent required more than basic people skills (Jedi mind tricks). Pushing or pulling with hands or arms was required for 20.2 percent of all workers and 7.8 percent were exposed to heights (both mastered by Yoda as telekinetics and levitation).

Select occupational requirements for all civilian workers, 2025
Occupational requirementPercent of workers

Exposure to heights

7.8

Pushing or pulling with hands or arms

20.2

More than basic people skills

60.8

Gross Manipulation

>99.5

Note: Gross manipulation was required by greater than 99.5% of civilian workers.

These data are from the Occupational Requirements Survey. To learn more, see “Occupational Requirements in the United States – 2025.”

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, May the (Labor) Force be with You at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/may-the-labor-force-be-with-you.htm (visited May 05, 2026).