1995, 38pp.
By: DANIEL FLAMING AND ODESSA DUBINSKY, ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE
Occupational Information in the Context of National Priorities
The Employment Training Administration of the U.S. Department
of Labor requested the Economic Roundtable to prepare an expert
paper on the guiding concepts that should be used in redesigning
the national occupational classification system for capturing
information about workers and jobs. The future Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) system will be the central source of information
for an issue at the heart of the nation's domestic agenda full
employment and optimal use of skills for American workers.
The paper is based on three assessments concerning the adequacy
of currently identified user groups for defining public priorities
to be served by the future SOC.
1. Occupational classification data is not an end in itself. It
is a tool for obtaining answers to questions and solutions to
problems that are important for aiding and improving working conditions
of our society. The views of current users are valuable to the
extent that they competently identify what occupational information
is needed and how it should be used to address labor force issues.
2. It appears that only 54% of respondents to previous surveys
were individuals who consult an occupational classification system
even once a week. This suggests that some organizations being
surveyed may have been marginal users of occupational classification
information.
3. The SOC does not have an identifiable constituency of users.
Its primary use is for identifying crosswalks between other systems.
It offers no independent classification definitions or data. Consequently,
it makes more sense to view it as an opportunity for a system
yet to be created rather than a system with an existing constituency.
Survey of Labor Market Experts
To probe beyond boundaries of previous surveys, the Economic Roundtable
initiated and sponsored an independent survey of expert users
in 1993, to obtain views from highly knowledgeable individuals
who use occupational information for employment and training programs
and research, as well as labor organizers and personnel administrators
in business who have informed perspectives and deal with workforce
issues that should be illuminated by national occupation information.
This survey focussed specifically on the relationship between
the societal goals identified as important by individuals and
the information they believe is needed in a revised system. To
the best knowledge of the authors, this is the only survey that
has investigated user views about the public interests (i.e.,
needs of indirect users) that should be served by an occupational
classification information.
Conclusions from Survey
A wide net was cast to draw on the insights and opinions of expert
individuals in diverse positions with rather different approaches
to the potential use of an occupational classification system.
Despite some diversity in origin, they share a remarkably strong
consensus on the necessary information that an occupational classification
system should contain, and the major problems currently experienced
by users. There appears to be broad user support for changes that
would transform the SOC into a classification system:
The primary use envisioned for the future system by users is to
provide information useful to workers in their search for employment. By improving the quality and accessibility of information available
to workers, and to those such as counselors who assist in matching
workers with jobs, a broader social interest is enhanced. The
most important kind of occupational information for supporting
this end concerns skill transferability. Users place high priority
on an accurate, up-to-date system with specific information that
will offer workers:
1. A common language for enumerating the skills they possess.
2. An effective system for identifying jobs which require their
combination of skills.
Fully Integrated, "Real Time" Information
A potential strength of the new SOC is its capacity to fully integrate
the wealth of occupational information collected by job analysis
with the employment statistics and demographic information collected
through OES surveys and the Census. An uncomplicated and widely
accepted occupational classification which simplifies and aids
the connection among these data sources will have a synergistic
effect in increasing the power of the information.
A new SOC that supports integration of data from multiple sources
should also have built-in capabilities for improving the integrity
and labor market-relevance of its own classification structure
by identifying cross-occupational linkages that indicate transferability
of skills or experience.
Conclusion
The future SOC should be designed to:
1. Serve the needs not only of Direct Users, but also Indirect
Users, who are the intended beneficiaries of the public investment
in producing occupational information.
2. Provide information that is tangibly helpful for achieving
the highest priority societal interest for occupational information
identified by all user groups, namely helping workers who need
jobs become employed.
3. Use a classification system based on worker skills.
4. Provide current, accurate information, including descriptions
of essential skills and competencies, tasks performed, and industries
in which occupations are found.
5. Support projections of future employment.
6. Fully integrate all publicly produced employment information
about workers and occupations, including occupational classification
data from the DOT, industry employment data from the OES, worker
demographic information from the Census, and earnings and employment
data from the public employment services.