ISCO-08, the International Labour Organization occupation classification, explained job by job. 213 field entries across 20 groups, each entry starting from work as observed, not from a job title alone.
ISCO-08 has four levels: 10 major groups, 43 sub-major groups, 130 minor groups, and 436 unit groups, grouped by skill level and skill specialisation. This site explains that structure. It does not determine any reader's occupation or code, and it offers no occupation-finder tool.
Groups
1 What ISCO-08 is
ISCO-08 as the ILO occupation classification, its purpose, and the limits that keep it a classification, not a hiring decision.
11 entries
2 Job, occupation, and unit group
How ISCO-08 separates a job held by one person from an occupation, and why a unit group is not a job title.
9 entries
3 Skill level and skill specialisation
The four ISCO-08 skill levels, how they are defined, and where skill level is and is not applied.
10 entries
4 The four levels of ISCO-08
Major, sub-major, minor, and unit groups, how the four levels nest, and how to read a four-digit code.
12 entries
5 Major Group 1: Managers
Chief executives, administrative and commercial managers, production managers, and hospitality and retail managers in ISCO-08.
13 entries
6 Major Group 2: Professionals
Science, engineering, health, teaching, business, ICT, legal, social, and cultural professionals in ISCO-08.
16 entries
7 Major Group 3: Technicians and associate professionals
Science, health, business, legal, social, cultural, and ICT associate professionals in ISCO-08.
11 entries
8 Major Group 4: Clerical support workers
General and keyboard clerks, customer service clerks, numerical and material recording clerks, and other clerical support in ISCO-08.
8 entries
9 Major Group 5: Service and sales workers
Personal service, sales, personal care, and protective service workers in ISCO-08.
12 entries
10 Major Group 6: Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
Market-oriented and subsistence agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers in ISCO-08.
7 entries
11 Major Group 7: Craft and related trades workers
Building, metal, machinery, handicraft, printing, electrical, and food processing trades in ISCO-08.
13 entries
12 Major Group 8: Plant and machine operators and assemblers
Stationary plant, machine operators, drivers, and assemblers in ISCO-08.
10 entries
13 Major Group 9: Elementary occupations
Cleaners, agricultural and mining labourers, construction and manufacturing labourers, and refuse workers in ISCO-08.
8 entries
14 Major Group 0: Armed forces occupations
Commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and other ranks in ISCO-08, and why this group is treated separately.
6 entries
15 Health occupations across ISCO-08
Health professionals, associate professionals, and personal care workers, and how health work is spread across major groups.
14 entries
16 Teaching and education occupations
Teaching professionals and associate professionals, from early childhood to university, and the boundaries between them.
10 entries
17 Digital and technology occupations
ICT professionals and technicians, and how technology work is classified by task and skill, not by employer or product.
11 entries
18 National variants, labelled as variants
SOC, NOC, ANZSCO, KldB, ESCO, and other national systems, each labelled as a national variant, never as ISCO itself.
13 entries
19 ISCO-08 in statistics and surveys
How labour force surveys, censuses, and employment statistics use ISCO-08, and what a published figure can and cannot show.
9 entries
20 From ISCO-88 to ISCO-08, and revision
What changed from ISCO-88 to ISCO-08, and the ILO revision work toward a successor, without inventing a new version.
10 entries