An occupation is a set of activities or tasks that employees are paid to perform. Employees that perform essentially the same tasks are in the same occupation, whether or not they are in the same industry. Some occupations are concentrated in a few particular industries, other occupations are found in the majority industries. Collects data on occupational employment and wages of employees in non farm establishments. Produces estimates of occupational employment, employment, and occupational wages.
Occupational employment is defined as the number of employees in a given occupation.
The OES program produces estimates of occupational employment by industry, that is, the number of employees in a given occupation in a given industry. Employment is obtained by aggregating the occupational employment by industry estimates for a given occupation. An occupation's employment estimate is the sum of that occupation's estimates from the industries in which it was surveyed. Occupational wages are the wages paid to employees in a given occupation. Establishments are asked to report how many workers they employ in a given occupation in each of several wage ranges.