The O*NET-SOC Taxonomy

Evolution of the O*NET-SOC Taxonomy

The initial O*NET database release (O*NET 98) was based on the occupational classification used by the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. This OES-based taxonomy was developed and released prior to the update of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) .

O*NET-SOC 2000

As required by the mandate from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) , the O*NET taxonomy was converted to one that was SOC-based in 2000 (O*NET-SOC 2000). For more information about the SOC transition, see our Transitioning O*NET to the Standard Occupational Classification report.

O*NET-SOC 2006

The June 2006 release of the O*NET 10.0 database (O*NET-SOC 2006) represents the ninth release of the O*NET database since its initial release in 1998, but only the second major change to the taxonomy. Details of this update and implementation of the O*NET-SOC taxonomy can be found in our Updating the O*NET-SOC Taxonomy report. The O*NET-SOC 2006 taxonomy includes 949 occupational titles, 812 of which represent data-level occupations. The O*NET Program is collecting and disseminating updated data for the 812 data-level occupations.

Beyond 2006

New and Emerging Occupations

New workforce requirements, including changes in technology, society, law or business practices, are leading to new and emerging (N&E) occupations in the United States. Such N&E occupations were identified within high growth industries identified by the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative and administered by the Department of Labor's Employment Training Administration (DOL/ETA) . In order to reflect these changes, the O*NET system is adapting by incorporating N&E occupations into the O*NET-SOC taxonomy.

A detailed description of the N&E effort is available in the New and Emerging (N&E) Occupations Methodology Development report. To date, 102 N&E occupations have been approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for inclusion in the O*NET data collection. We continue to research additional high growth industries for other N&E occupations. An updated O*NET-SOC taxonomy that includes these 102 occupations (and any subsequently developed and approved) is planned for late 2008. The list of currently approved occupations is available for download below.

Download:
N&E Occupations Initial Listings — Excel (XLS - 119 KB)
N&E Occupations Initial Listings — PDF (PDF - 84 KB)

Occupational Code Assistance

The established Occupational Code Assignment (OCA) process enables users to submit occupational information, and request assistance in identifying a matching O*NET-SOC code and title. In cases where an existing occupational code and title can not be identified, the submitted information is reviewed and utilized in identifying occupations that might be added to the O*NET-SOC system. For more information, see Understanding the Occupational Code Assignment (OCA) Process.

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Occupational Listings and Files

Taxonomies:
O*NET-SOC 2000 occupations
O*NET-SOC 2006 occupations

Crosswalks:
Crosswalk 2000 to 2006
Crosswalk 2006 to 2000

O*NET-SOC 2006 — Occupations by type of change:
Aggregated to the SOC-level occupation
Aggregated to a new detailed O*NET-SOC occupation
Subsumed by an existing detailed O*NET-SOC occupation
Subsumed by a SOC-level occupation
Added to the taxonomy
Title changes only
Definition changes only
Title and definition changes

Other:
Occupations in the Data Collection Plan
Occupations with updated data
Occupations with second update

Download:
All listings — Excel (ZIP - 315 KB)

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