2025 Occupational Requirements in the United States — 2026-01-16

The ability to pause work was present for 53.5 percent of workers in 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Pause control provides the ability of a worker to take short, unscheduled breaks. In 2025, greater than 95 percent of software developers had the ability to pause work. The ability to pause work was present for 91.9 percent of lawyers and 62.6 percent of electricians. (See table 1.) Control of workload identifies who or what most determines how much work a worker must complete in a set period of time. A self-paced workload is present when the workload is mostly self-directed within general performance guidelines, allowing the worker significant discretion to vary timing of tasks within certain limits. In 2025, 18.5 percent of workers had a self-paced workload. Among software developers, 65.8 percent had a self-paced workload, while 70.0 percent of lawyers and 0.7 percent of electricians were self-paced.