Credentials

The Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) publishes job-related information on physical demands; environmental 

conditions; education, training, and experience; as well as cognitive and mental requirements. The job requirements 

reflect those necessary for workers to perform critical tasks in support of the critical job functions, and not the 

capabilities of individual workers.

Credentials include training time required as a condition of hiring, which often results in certifications, licenses, or 

educational certificates and are part of the education, training, and experience requirements.

The published estimates reflect the percentage of workers with credential requirements and the time necessary to 

obtain them.

Credential requirements include:

• Certifications which are issued by a certification body, industry association, or professional association and 

acknowledge that occupation specific skills and abilities exist. Certifications expire if not renewed.

• Educational certificates which are issued by an educational institution (or a training provider) and certify that an 

occupation specific program of study was completed. Educational certificates typically do not expire.

• Licenses which are issued by a government agency and constitute a legal authority to perform a specific 

occupation. Similar to a certification, a license expires if not renewed.

Apprenticeships, vocational training, non-credit courses, and credit courses that do not result in a degree are included in 

credential requirements. These credentials are included in overall credential requirements but are not separately 

published. When workers are expected to obtain credentials to perform critical job tasks, these requirements are 

included in estimates.

Not all credentials are included in the ORS estimates. Instances where:

• credentials are desirable but are not required,

• credentials are part of the hiring criteria but are not associated with any critical job tasks, and

• certificates of attendance or participation for training that is not vocationally relevant are not included in 

credential requirement estimates.

In 2021, 45.3 percent of civilian workers were required to have a credential where 5.8 percent had a certification 

requirement and 19.1 percent had a license requirement.

Among published occupational groups, credential requirements ranged from 10.8 percent of office and administrative 

support workers to 91.4 percent of healthcare practitioners and technical workers. (See Chart A.)
Occupational Requirements Survey ●www.bls.gov/ors ●orsinfo@bls.gov ●202.691.6199

Estimates reflect the length of time necessary to obtain the required credentials. In some instances, the duration of 

individual credentials cannot be separated from other education, training, and experience requirements. For example, 

lawyers have degrees included as part of the criteria for obtaining licenses so there is no separate time from the degree 

requirement. When this occurs, it is included as concurrent time (published as no associated time) with the other 

education, training, or experience requirements as appropriate. (See Chart B.)

The percentage of workers with credential requirements are published along with the associated length of time 

necessary to obtain the credential when the time is separate from other education, training, and experience 

requirements. For example, a license was required for greater than 99.5 percent of bus drivers, transit and intercity. For 

16.3 percent of these workers, obtaining a license required time in addition to other education, training, and experience. 

No associated time was required for 83.7 percent of bus drivers, transit and intercity required to obtain a license.
Occupational Requirements Survey ●www.bls.gov/ors ●orsinfo@bls.gov ●202.691.6199

Percentile estimates for associated time provide a range of time required to obtain the credential. For example, at the 

25th percentile, electricians had 1000 days (about 3 years) associated with license requirements. While at the 90th 

percentile, the associated time for the license requirement was 1825 days (5 years). (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Percentage of workers with license requirements and associated number of days, 2023

Occupation Required Associated 

time

Number of days

10th 

percentile

25th 

percentile Median

75th 

percentile

90th 

percentile

Insurance sales agents 81.0 48.0 3.00 5.0 6.5 10.00 14

Personal care aides 17.9 11.8 4.38 5.0 7.0 12.63 -

Nursing assistants 67.3 26.0 9.38 10.0 15.0 22.50 -

General and operations managers 6.1 2.5 - - 50.0 - -

Pharmacy technicians 71.0 11.6 - - 62.5 120.00 125

Hairdressers, hairstylists, and 

cosmetologists 99.5 - 150.00 156.2 187.5 200.00 -

Licensed practical and licensed 

vocational nurses 99.0 11.6 191.20 360.0 365.0 365.00 365

Plumbers, pipefitters, and 

steamfitters 38.3 20.8 365.00 500.0 1095.0 1460.00 1825

Electricians 35.8 24.7 - 1000.0 1460.0 1825.00 1825

Note: Dash indicates estimate did not meet publication criteria.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey

Additional resources:

• Latest news release

• Archived ORS news releases

• Handbook of Methods

• Collection manuals

• Factsheets

Articles:

• All The Economics Daily (TED) articles on ORS

• Minds at work: what’s required according to the Occupational Requirements Survey (PDF)

• A look at teachers’ job requirements, employer costs, and benefits (PDF)

• Occupational Requirements Survey: Third wave testing report (PDF)

• Occupational Requirements Survey: results from a job observation pilot test

• The Occupational Requirements Survey: estimates from preproduction testing

For additional information on occupational requirements see the ORS homepage or download the ORS complete dataset

to explore the latest estimates.