The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is the primary source of occupational information for the United States. O*NET, sponsored by the Employment and Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor, is developed by the National Center for O*NET Development.[1] O*NET was created to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which was considered obsolete and inefficient during the early 1990s and abandoned by the Department of Labor in 1998.[2] However, the O*NET lacks information regarding the physical demands of listed jobs at the same level of detail as the DOT. DOT was heavily relied upon by the Social Security Administration in making disability determinations because of this feature. As a result, O*NET has failed to replace its predecessor for this function.
The O*NET uses an occupational taxonomy called O*NET-SOC. This is based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), to conform with the practices of all US governmental sources of occupational information. However, it offers a finer level of detail.[3] For example, the SOC occupation 13-2011 Accountants and Auditors has the O*NET-SOC code of 13–2011.00 and is linked to two more-detailed O*NET occupations, 13-2011.01 Accountants and 13-2011.02 Auditors.