Occupation Classification Systems Compared

Occupation Classification Systems Compared

TL;DR: SOC for US labor data, ISCO for global comparison, ESCO for European skills matching, O*NET for detailed occupation attributes. Connected by 10,000+ crosswalk edges with education-to-career pathways through CIP.

System overview

How occupation systems connect

graph TB
  subgraph Education["Education"]
    CIP["CIP 2020\n2,848 programs"]
    ISCEDF["ISCED-F 2013\n122 fields"]
  end
  subgraph US_Occ["United States"]
    SOC["SOC 2018\n1,447 occupations"]
    ONET["O*NET-SOC\n867 occupations\n+ skills, abilities, interests"]
  end
  subgraph Global_Occ["Global"]
    ISCO["ISCO-08\n619 occupations"]
  end
  subgraph EU_Occ["Europe"]
    ESCO_O["ESCO Occupations\n3,045"]
    ESCO_S["ESCO Skills\n14,247"]
  end
  subgraph Industry["Industry"]
    NAICS["NAICS 2022"]
    ISIC["ISIC Rev 4"]
  end
  CIP -->|5,903 edges| SOC
  CIP -->|1,615 edges| ISCEDF
  SOC <-->|992 edges| ISCO
  SOC <-->|1,734 edges| ONET
  ISCO <-->|6,048 edges| ESCO_O
  ESCO_O --- ESCO_S
  ISCO -->|44 edges| ISIC
  SOC -.-> NAICS

SOC vs ISCO: The two major frameworks

SOC 2018 (Standard Occupational Classification)

• 1,447 detailed occupations across 6 levels
• Structure: 2-digit major groups (23) down to 6-digit detailed occupations
• Used for: US government statistics, labor market data, visa classifications (H-1B), wage surveys
• Updated: approximately every 10 years

ISCO-08 (International Standard Classification of Occupations)

• 619 occupations across 4 levels
• Structure: 1-digit major groups (10) down to 4-digit unit groups
• Used for: International labor statistics, ILO reporting, basis for national systems
• Key difference: Broader categories than SOC; designed for international comparison

Crosswalk between SOC and ISCO

SOC 2018 and ISCO-08 are connected by 992 crosswalk edges. The mapping is many-to-many because SOC is more granular than ISCO.

# Translate a SOC code to ISCO
curl https://worldoftaxonomy.com/api/v1/systems/soc_2018/nodes/29-1211/equivalences

ESCO - European skills and occupations

ESCO is the EU's multilingual classification connecting occupations to skills:

• 3,045 occupations mapped to ISCO-08 (6,048 crosswalk edges)
• 14,247 skills and competences linked to occupations
• Key advantage: Skills-based matching across EU labor markets
• Use cases: Job portals, skills gap analysis, career guidance, Europass

graph LR
  ESCO_O["ESCO Occupations\n3,045"] <-->|6,048 edges| ISCO["ISCO-08\n619"]
  ESCO_O --- ESCO_S["ESCO Skills\n14,247"]
  ESCO_S -.->|linked to| ESCO_O

ESCO is the only system in the graph that connects occupations directly to skills. This makes it essential for AI-powered job matching and workforce analytics.

O*NET - Occupation information network

O*NET extends SOC with rich attribute data:

• 867 occupations mapped to SOC 2018 (1,734 crosswalk edges)
• Includes: Knowledge areas, abilities, work activities, work context, interests (RIASEC), work values, work styles
• Key advantage: Most detailed occupation attribute data available
• Use cases: Career exploration, job analysis, workforce development

Education-to-occupation pathways

The crosswalk topology connects education to occupations:

graph LR
  CIP["CIP 2020\n2,848 instructional\nprograms"] -->|5,903 edges| SOC["SOC 2018\n1,447 US\noccupations"]
  CIP -->|1,615 edges| ISCEDF["ISCED-F 2013\n122 fields\nof education"]
  ISCED["ISCED 2011\n20 education\nlevels"] -->|25 edges| ISCO["ISCO-08\n619 global\noccupations"]

This lets you answer questions like "What occupations do graduates of CIP 51.0912 (Physician Assistant) work in?"

curl https://worldoftaxonomy.com/api/v1/systems/cip_2020/nodes/51.0912/equivalences

Occupation-to-industry mapping

Occupations connect to industries through two paths:

Which system to use

Use cases

MCP tools for occupation data