Which OCCUPATIONS Have the Highest COVID-19 Risk?

Many people have been following social isolation measures by working from home in recent weeks. Although this restriction is the most important way to control the novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, the disease it causes, and reduce their adverse consequences, only a small proportion of workers can work remotely/from home. For example, working from home is a luxury available to only 29% of US workers; the situation is uncertain for the remaining 71%. A significant proportion of the population has become unemployed because of layoffs and mandatory lockdowns. Those working in essential services have continued working, but their risk of contracting the virus has increased. To investigate this situation, an infographic (a visual presentation of information) was created using data from O*NET (the Occupational Information Network) to identify which occupations face the greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19.

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Note: The data above apply to the US working environment. Risks and wages cannot be generalized directly to other countries, but they are meaningful for providing an idea.

Methodology and results

The scores obtained are based on assessing 3 physical job attributes covered by the occupational database:

1. Contact with other people: How much contact a worker needs to have with others in order to carry out the job.
2. Physical proximity: How much the job requires an employee to perform physical tasks close to others.
3. Exposure to disease and infection: How often the job requires exposure to dangerous conditions.

Each physical attribute is given equal weight in the chart. At the end of the assessment, jobs receive a final COVID-19 risk score between 100 and 0. In this assessment, 100 indicates the highest-risk job and 0 the lowest-risk job. Jobs with a risk score below 0.5 were identified through further analyses. To narrow the list of occupations when preparing the chart, occupations with fewer than 20,000 workers were removed. From the remaining occupations, 100 well-known occupations were selected and ranked by average annual income, number of workers and risk score.

Although the chart includes some obvious findings, such as nurses and healthcare personnel being more likely to be exposed to the virus than lawyers and web developers, these datasets allow a more quantitative figure to be assigned to help understand the risk level of each occupation.

Recognizing those on the front lines against the coronavirus

Healthcare workers are undoubtedly fighting bravely on the very front lines against the virus. However, only a small proportion of workers can do their jobs from home, and many other occupations on the front lines deserve recognition in this struggle just as healthcare workers do. Two of these occupations are bus drivers and cashiers. Both require workers to be physically close to others. The services these individuals help provide are important, and many continue working despite the risks throughout the pandemic. Supermarket employees are workers who prevent nations from descending into civil unrest. We would face major difficulties if no one worked in stores.

The data obtained for the chart also showed that a greater proportion of higher earners can work from home. At a time when many people are worried about paying their bills, the effects of this inequality may be particularly harsh on lower earners. If they cannot work from home, these individuals face increased health risks on top of their existing financial difficulties.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected everyone differently in terms of occupational risks. People on the front lines put themselves at risk, whether caring for patients, working with grocery shelves or keeping our communities running smoothly. Meanwhile, those fortunate enough to work from home can help reduce the speed at which the outbreak spreads by continuing to practice safe social distancing, even on weekends.

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