Judgment and Decision Making
Cross-functional skill · O*NET work requirement
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
In the O*NET occupational database, Judgment and Decision Making is a skill that work requires. O*NET rates how important it is (1–5) and what level of it a job needs (0–7) for every U.S. occupation. It is rated as important (3 or higher) in 682 of 894 occupations.
Breadth here means how widely O*NET rates this skill as important across occupations — not that it is rare, high-paying, or currently in employer demand.
Occupations that rely most on Judgment and Decision Making
Ranked by O*NET importance to the occupation (1–5). Bars are sized against the 1–5 scale; the level column is what depth of the skill the job needs (0–7).
Showing the top 40 of 682 occupations where this is important.
How AI is used by roles that need Judgment and Decision Making
This skill is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles for which O*NET rates it important and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles (importance-weighted). 61.4% of the 682 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (419 roles).
Across those roles, 48.5% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 31.0% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.62 / 5.
| Collaboration pattern | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| directive | 28.8% | AI does it; you give the instruction |
| task iteration | 24.6% | you and AI go back and forth |
| learning | 20.8% | you ask AI to explain or teach |
| validation | 3.0% | you do it; AI checks your work |
| feedback loop | 2.2% | AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback |
Roles behind this signal
The roles where this skill is most important and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.
| Occupation | Importance | Works with AI | Autonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.4 | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.5 | 65.2% | 3.0/5 |
| Editors | 3.1 | 68.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers | 3.3 | 46.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors | 3.6 | 70.6% | 4.0/5 |
| Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 66.2% | 3.3/5 |
| Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.6 | 67.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.9 | 66.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Instructional Coordinators | 3.8 | 53.1% | 4.0/5 |
| Technical Writers | 3.1 | 54.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.4 | 66.8% | 3.3/5 |
Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. Shares are of observed conversations, weighted by how important this skill is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.
Industries that concentrate this
Where Judgment and Decision Making matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Judgment and Decision Making (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5). Concentration compares that reach to the national average industry, so a value above 1× means the requirement is more pervasive here than across the economy as a whole.
Nationally, about 50.7% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Judgment and Decision Making (measured across 67 industries).
Sectors with the most such workers
| Sector | Workers | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 12,646,570 | 54.7% |
| Educational Services | 9,630,970 | 70.6% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 8,495,140 | 78.9% |
| Manufacturing | 6,291,480 | 49.3% |
| Construction | 4,706,770 | 58.0% |
| Finance and Insurance | 4,699,880 | 75.5% |
| Retail Trade | 4,225,380 | 27.1% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 3,804,640 | 42.1% |
| Wholesale Trade | 3,288,920 | 54.5% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 2,650,760 | 18.6% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 2,564,970 | 57.9% |
| Information | 2,211,000 | 76.0% |
Industries where it is most concentrated
| Industry | Level | Concentration | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Electric Power Generation | National industry | 1.83× | 93.0% |
| Wind Electric Power Generation | National industry | 1.83× | 92.7% |
| Television Broadcasting Stations | National industry | 1.79× | 90.6% |
| Radio Broadcasting Stations | National industry | 1.76× | 89.0% |
| Hydroelectric Power Generation | National industry | 1.76× | 89.0% |
| Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations | National industry | 1.7× | 86.2% |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation | National industry | 1.7× | 86.3% |
| Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors | National industry | 1.69× | 85.6% |
| Engineering Services | National industry | 1.67× | 84.7% |
| Testing Laboratories and Services | National industry | 1.61× | 81.7% |
| Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities | National industry | 1.59× | 80.7% |
| Utilities | Sector | 1.58× | 80.2% |
Reach is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across an industry's workforce, not how intensively any individual uses it. Sector worker counts come from BLS OEWS employment; the significance threshold and tool use come from O*NET. Industries shown by concentration are filtered to a real worker base so a tiny specialty cannot top the list on rounding.
Related skills, knowledge & abilities
Capabilities required by many of the same occupations — a measure of which skills, knowledge and abilities tend to travel together, not a judgment of similarity.
| Capability | Type | Shared occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Complex Problem Solving | Cross-functional skill | 611 |
| Inductive Reasoning | Ability | 655 |
| Critical Thinking | Basic skill | 676 |
| Deductive Reasoning | Ability | 671 |
| Written Comprehension | Ability | 644 |
| Reading Comprehension | Basic skill | 634 |
| Active Learning | Basic skill | 567 |
| Speaking | Basic skill | 662 |
| Category Flexibility | Ability | 618 |
| Information Ordering | Ability | 673 |
| Monitoring | Basic skill | 644 |
| Speech Clarity | Ability | 650 |
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Census NAICS 2022 U.S. Census Bureau
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Judgment and Decision Making." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/skills/judgment-and-decision-making
Singulariki. (2026). Judgment and Decision Making. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/skills/judgment-and-decision-making
@misc{singulariki-judgment-and-decision-making,
title = {Judgment and Decision Making},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/skills/judgment-and-decision-making}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.