2020 Occupational Requirements in the United States — 2020-12-22

On average, civilian workers spent 4.25 hours of the workday standing in 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Workers stood for 57.3 percent of the workday and spent the rest of the workday sitting. The choice to sit or stand to perform critical tasks in support of critical job functions was available to 42.5 percent of civilian workers. (See table 1.) Workers in healthcare practitioners and technical occupations spent 64.5 percent of the workday standing. These workers stood an average of 5.47 hours a day. Within this occupational group, medical records specialists spent 1.50 hours, or 19.1 percent, of the workday standing and surgical technologists stood for 8.02 hours, or 88.6 percent, of the workday. (See table 1.) Seventy-one percent of the workday was spent standing for workers in healthcare support occupations with 5.04 hours standing.