Power-Screwdriver Operator -- We Need to Go Back in Time

 Power-screwdriver operator (DOT 699.685-026) will fast become a popular light unskilled occupation for the vocational witness in Social Security hearings.  Why?  I am glad that you asked. Job Browser Pro estimates that this occupation represents 237,527 jobs in the national economy.  That is a lot of jobs and the VW has JBP to back it up.  JBP does not link to O*NET or ORS data.  

Power-screwdriver operator belongs to the occupational group of miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (SOC 51-2090).  The federal government statistical presentations use "0" as a place holder.  In occupational groups, the "0" designates a summary group.  Occupational groups that end in a non-zero digit designate a line item. So, what is up with miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators?  I am glad that you asked. 

We start tracking this group down in the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.  BLS explains that miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (SOC 51-2090) includes the 2018 SOC occupations 51-2092 Team Assemblers and 51-2099 Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other.

We don't bother looking in the O*NET for 51-2099 Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other.  The O*NET does not provide data for occupational group ending in "9" -- the all other designation -- except for sub-groups with the O*NET trailer ".0X" where x is a non-zero digit. 

We do look for 51-2092 in the O*NET and both 51-2092 and 51-2099 in the ORS.  There we find a statistical basis for eroding the ability of the VW to claim a reliable methodology for extrapolating local experience to the national economy.

Team assemblers have occasional or less contact with other in 18% of jobs.  Team assemblers do not engage in teamwork in 3% of jobs.  JBP reports that miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators represent 1.3 million jobs.  A mere 3% still approaches 40,000 jobs.  The O*NET resource center reports that team assemblers engage in work with 30 days or less of on-the-job training in 14.5% of jobs.  Assuming that there is no correlation between working alone and skill level, the number of unskilled jobs that do not require teamwork drops to less than 6,000; but the number of jobs with occasional or less contact with others still hovers at 34,000 jobs.  Since working in proximity to or in coordination with others is critical to performing unskilled work, it is more likely that those without significant contact with others or without teamwork are skilled or at least semi-skilled workers.  The numbers drop fast.  

 The ORS reports that team assemblers stand almost 7.0 hours on average and 6.8 hours per day at the 25th percentile.  The ORS does not report the 10th percentile for standing.  The percent of the day reports state 84.2% of the day on average and 87.5% of the day at the 25th percentile.  Where the number of hours divided by 8 does not equal the percent of the day report, that observation suggests that the data does not report full-time work or reports an alternate work schedule.  Either the number of hours or the percentage of the day preclude workers with a limitation to 6 hours of standing/walking during the day.  

The incumbent reports in the O*NET and the employer reports in the ORS disagree on SVP.  The ORS reports that team assemblers engage in unksilled work in 53.7% of jobs.  Factoring in this data does change the results for contact with others and teamwork but does not change the required standing reported.  

The ORS reports that assemblers and fabricators, all other stand 6.52 hours on average and 8 hours per day at the median.  The ORS does not report either the 10th or 25th percentiles for standing.  The ORS reports the percentage of the day, 79.8% on average and 100% of the day at the median.  The ORS reports that assemblers and fabricators, all other engage in unskilled work in 49.5% of jobs.  

The OES, the processor of the OEWS, last separated team assemblers and assemblers and fabricators, all other in 2016.  Team assemblers represented 1.1 million jobs.  Assemblers and fabricators, all other represented 230,000 jobs.  Power-screwdriver operator was then designated an all other occupation, not a team assembler occupation, and it was never the only DOT code in the group.

Whether the claimant has an impairment in contact with others, teamwork, or standing, the data does not support 230,000 p0wer-screwdriver operator jobs.  With that conclusion, we return to the JBP estimate.  JBP reports that 53,700 jobs work in temporary help services.  We covered the problem with temporary help services earlier this year.  Those jobs do not represent sustained employment for Social Security purposes at step five of the sequential evaluation process.  

A VW regurgitating the number of jobs reported by JBP does not end the analysis.  We must use the O*NET, ORS, and understand the limitations inherent in JBP to squeeze the numbers to something that is reliable.  The estimate of 237,527 jobs as a power-screwdriver operator is not reliable for Social Security adjudicatory purposes.  

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Power-Screwdriver Operator -- We Need to Go Back in Time, California Social Security Attorney (September 16, 2022) (updated October 5, 2022) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

The author has been AV-rated since 2000 and listed in Super Lawyers since 2009.