Tasks by Occupation API Guide
Tasks by Occupation API offers a detailed view of what a role actually does day to day
breaking down work into task-level activities and estimating the percentage of time spent on each. It’s designed to help teams understand job makeup, evaluate effort, and identify key responsibilities.
It’s an essential API for organizations standardizing roles, evaluating workforce impact, or designing more future-ready job structures.
Who is this API for?
This API is ideal for workforce transformation and strategy teams working on role clarity, benchmarking, or evaluating work effort. In particular:
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Tech Strategist – evaluating automation potential or digital augmentation at the task level
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Workforce Planner – understanding task-level composition of roles to drive org design
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People Strategist – improving job architecture and comparing effort across occupations
Goals this API helps you achieve
The Tasks by Occupation API helps your team:
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Standardize roles and salaries by providing a consistent breakdown of effort and task categories
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Understand the impact of tech by seeing where time is spent and what might be automated
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Analyze job design to create better, more efficient, or hybrid-ready role structures
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Compare occupations based on overlapping or divergent task breakdowns
What’s included in the API?
The API returns a structured list of tasks for a selected occupation, along with how much time each task typically takes. The data is derived from Pearson’s ontology and empirical job studies.
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Task Descriptions | Human-readable labels for each task, such as “Develop design concepts” |
| Time Allocation | % of a standard work week typically spent on each task |
| Linked Activities | Each task is mapped to granular Task Activities with unique IDs and labels |
This breakdown allows teams to gauge what matters most in a role and where the bulk of time and effort is spent.
Input and Output
Input required:
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An Occupation — can be provided by name or by Pearson Ontology Code
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Optional: Occupation Level for greater specificity
Output includes:
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A ranked list of Tasks and how much time (%) is typically spent on each
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Associated Task Activity IDs and descriptions
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Metadata to pass into related APIs for deeper analysis
Real-world applications
Here’s how teams use the Tasks by Occupation API in strategic contexts:
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Tech teams assess which tasks might be automated or augmented with digital tools
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HR teams use task breakdowns to clarify job scope and responsibilities
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Workforce planners compare task similarities across occupations to identify mobility opportunities
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Benchmarking roles based on effort distribution to create consistent compensation frameworks
API Bundle
This API is available in the following bundles:
Foundational APIs
- Included by default in any API subscription
- Supports job design, benchmarking, and role clarity use cases