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Occupational Requirements Survey
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Occupational Requirements Survey: Occupational Profiles
View (PDF)
Based on the 2024 Occupational Requirements Survey
- All workers (PDF)
- Architecture and engineering occupations (PDF)
- Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations (PDF)
- Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupation (PDF)
- Business and financial operations occupations (PDF)
- Community and social service occupations (PDF)
- Computer and mathematical occupations (PDF)
- Construction and extraction occupations (PDF)
- Educational instruction and library occupations (PDF)
- Food preparation and serving related occupations (PDF)
- Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (PDF)
- Healthcare support occupations (PDF)
- Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations (PDF)
- Legal occupations (PDF)
- Life, physical, and social science occupations (PDF)
- Management occupations (PDF)
- Office and administrative support occupations (PDF)
- Personal care and service occupations (PDF)
- Production occupations (PDF)
- Protective service occupations (PDF)
- Sales and related occupations (PDF)
- Transportation and material moving occupations (PDF)
- Archived profiles
- Definitions of major terms▸
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The glossary below contains major terms used in the occupational profiles. The complete list of terms is available within the ORS collection manuals and ORS Handbook of Methods.
Additional estimates for detailed occupations and occupational groups are available at www.bls.gov/ors/data.htm. The ORS databases factsheet provides guidance for accessing the data.
General terms
- Civilian workers – includes private industry and state and local government workers. Excluded are the federal government, the military, agricultural workers, private household workers, and the self-employed.
- Critical job function - the main purpose and the primary pay factor for the job. It consists of critical tasks that are integral to the job.
- Critical tasks - activities workers must perform to carry out their critical job function(s).
- Duration levels:
- Seldom – up to 2 percent of the workday
- Occasionally – from 2 percent up to 1/3 of the workday
- Frequently – from 1/3 up to 2/3 of the workday
- Constantly – from 2/3 or more of the workday
- Job – group of workers in an establishment that have the same position. The term job refers to a single position within an establishment, whereas occupation refers to a profession or trade. Example: “waiters at Smith’s Restaurant” is a job, whereas “waiters” is an occupation.
Cognitive and mental requirements
- Control of workload - what most controls the timing and amount of work being performed among the following:
- Machinery, equipment, or software
- Numerical performance targets
- People
- Self-paced by worker
- Other external source (e.g., nature, animals, emergencies)
- Crowds - working around crowds is present when the following five conditions are met:
- many unfamiliar people are present considering the space available,
- movement is restricted,
- any given arrangement of the crowd is temporary,
- a certain level of disorganization is present, and
- workers are not separated from unfamiliar people by counters, dividers, or other objects.
See the Working around crowds factsheet for more information.
- Frequency of work checked – how often supervisors or lead workers are checking the work. Increased checks due to poor performance or customer complaints are excluded.
- Pause control – the ability to pause work and step away without needing another worker to replace them.
- People skills – the ability to listen, communicate, and relate to others. Workers either require basic or more than basic people skills.
- Basic – workers often work alone, or usually are only expected to engage in simple, brief work-related communication and to treat others in a nonoffensive manner.
- More than basic – anything beyond simple communication. This includes instructing, mentoring, supervising, persuading, or negotiating with others.
- Presence of supervisor – whether a supervisor or lead worker is generally present in the same physical work area as the workers.
- Supervising others – positions with supervisory responsibilities are expected to plan and direct the activities of other workers. This includes supervisors and lead workers.
- Telework – the ability to perform critical tasks at home for an agreed-upon portion of the work schedule.
- Verbal interactions – captures how often workers engage in verbal work-related interactions. Verbal interactions are separated into two types of contacts.
- Internal: People who work for the same employer, company, organization, or establishment as the job.
- External: People who do not work for the same employer, company, organization, or establishment as the job, including the general public, vendors, students, contractors, or delivery people.
- Work pace – relates to the speed and consistency that work is performed. Pace can be consistent and generally fast, consistent and generally slow, or vary between slow and fast.
- Work schedule variability – a variable work schedule requires workers to report on different days or times or work a different number of hours in a given week. These work schedule changes can be seasonal or more regular.
Education, training, and experience requirements
- Specific vocational preparation (SVP) – the amount of time required by a worker to learn the techniques, acquire the information, and develop the facility needed for average performance in a specific job. SVP is measured in nine levels from a “short demonstration” to “over 10 years”. For more information see the Calculation section of the Handbook of Methods.
- Minimum education – the lowest level of formal coursework required in a job and excludes general education, see the Minimum formal education factsheet for more information.
- Credentials – the amount of time needed to complete required training as a condition for hiring which may include certifications, licenses, apprenticeships, and educational certificates. See the Credentials factsheet for more information.
- On-the-job training – the amount of training time that occurs after an employee has been hired.
- Prior work experience – the amount of prior relevant work activity. This excludes any non-vocationally specific requirements.
Environmental conditions
- Extreme cold – 40 degrees or below when exposed 2/3 or more of the workday or 32 degrees or below when exposed up to 2/3 of the workday. Extreme cold because of weather is excluded.
- Extreme heat – above 90 degrees in a dry environment or above 85 degrees in a humid environment. Extreme heat because of weather is excluded.
- Heavy vibrations – exposure to a shaking object or surface that causes a strain on the body or extremities. Vibration caused by the object or surface must be heavy.
- Noise intensity level – amount of noise that a worker experiences while working. Examples of noise level:
- Quiet – settings such as a private office or art museum;
- Moderate – business office, department store, fast food restaurant;
- Loud – large earth moving equipment or can manufacturing department;
- Very loud – rock concert or jackhammer work.
- Outdoors – considered present when two conditions exist, (1) a worker performs critical tasks outdoors and (2) a worker is unprotected and exposed to the elements. A work site is considered protected when it has a roof and at least three sides.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) – gear used or worn to minimize exposure to serious workplace injuries and illnesses. The use of PPE is captured for exposures to hazardous contaminants, heights, noise, and proximity to moving mechanical parts.
- Wetness – any contact with water or liquid that is related to a worker’s critical tasks. Wetness because of weather is excluded.
Physical demands
- Climbing structure-related ramps or stairs – climbing is only required because of the building’s structure and not the critical tasks. If workers are able to use elevators, then structure-related climbing is not present. Work-related climbing is captured separately.
- Driving – operation of passenger vehicles such as automobiles, vans, or light trucks, and other vehicles such as tractor trailers, buses, equipment (e.g., forklifts, golf carts, riding mowers), trains, boats, or aircraft.
- Low postures – critical tasks require workers stoop, crouch, kneel, or crawl. The duration that workers are in low postures is published as well as whether individual postures are not required, required, or workers choose to use the posture when getting low to perform work. See the Low postures factsheet for more information.
- Reaching – critical tasks require workers to fully extend the hand(s) and arm(s) to reach for an object or across a surface. Reaching is considered not required if workers can rearrange their work area to prevent the need to reach.
- Overhead reaching is extending the arm(s) with the hand higher than the head.
- At or below the shoulder reaching is extending the arm(s) with the hand level to or below the head.
- Sitting and standing – workers are always considered to be sitting or standing. The time spent sitting and standing will sum to the entire workday. See the Sitting and standing factsheet for more information.
- Choice of sitting or standing is present when workers typically have the flexibility to choose between sitting and standing throughout the day.
- Sitting includes time when workers are in a seated position, lying down, or able to choose between sitting and standing for a given task.
- Standing is required when workers are not sitting or lying down. This includes time in low postures and climbing.
- Speaking – any speaking in support of critical tasks with coworkers or the public, including simple, straightforward exchanges.
- Strength level – a job is classified into five strength levels: sedentary, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy. The strength level is determined by how much weight a worker is required to lift or carry, how often they have to lift or carry that weight, as well as standing and walking in some special cases. Additional detail on the calculation of strength levels is available in the Handbook of Methods.
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