Operating system software
Technology category · O*NET
Operating system software is a technology category in the O*NET database. Across U.S. occupations, 342 report using software or tools in this category. The named products below are the specific examples O*NET records for those jobs. The occupations that use it sit, on average, at the 63rd percentile of AI task-exposure ( moderate) — how much that work overlaps with what AI can do, not a sign the tool is being replaced. See where every tool category sits.
A Hot tag marks technologies O*NET sees frequently in employer job postings; In demand marks tools an occupation specifically requires.
Example software & tools
Ranked by how many occupations list each product. Each number is an occupation count — a job is counted once per product — so the product rows overlap and do not sum to the category total.
Showing the top 40 of 53 products in this category.
Occupations that use Operating system software
- Accountants and Auditors
- Actors
- Acupuncturists
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers
- Administrative Services Managers
- Advertising and Promotions Managers
- Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians
- Aerospace Engineers
- Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Aircraft Service Attendants
- Airfield Operations Specialists
- Amusement and Recreation Attendants
- Animal Breeders
- Animal Control Workers
- Animal Trainers
- Anthropologists and Archeologists
- Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate
- Appraisers of Personal and Business Property
- Architectural and Civil Drafters
- Architectural and Engineering Managers
- Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary
- Art Directors
- Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
- Astronomers
- Atmospheric and Space Scientists
- Audio and Video Technicians
- Automotive Body and Related Repairers
- Automotive Engineers
- Automotive Glass Installers and Repairers
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
- Avionics Technicians
- Barbers
- Billing and Posting Clerks
- Biochemists and Biophysicists
- Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
- Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers
- Bioinformatics Scientists
- Bioinformatics Technicians
Showing 40 of 342 occupations.
How AI is used by roles that use Operating system software
A software category is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles that report using Operating system software and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles, weighted by how much observed AI activity each one has. 55.6% of the 342 roles that use this category carry observed AI-usage data (190 roles).
Across those roles, 54.8% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 38.1% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.68 / 5.
| Collaboration pattern | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| directive | 33.0% | AI does it; you give the instruction |
| task iteration | 32.9% | you and AI go back and forth |
| learning | 16.7% | you ask AI to explain or teach |
| validation | 5.2% | you do it; AI checks your work |
| feedback loop | 5.0% | AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback |
Roles behind this signal
The roles using this category that have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.
| Occupation | Works with AI | Autonomy |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Editors | 68.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Office Clerks, General | 36.5% | 3.0/5 |
| Communications Teachers, Postsecondary | 65.7% | 3.0/5 |
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 62.5% | 3.5/5 |
| Actors | 43.3% | 4.0/5 |
| Physics Teachers, Postsecondary | 65.9% | 4.0/5 |
| Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary | 66.1% | 4.0/5 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 36.3% | 3.0/5 |
| Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 68.5% | 4.0/5 |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 62.8% | 4.0/5 |
| Cashiers | 42.8% | 3.0/5 |
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. Roles list software categories in O*NET; this does not mean AI is used inside Operating system software, only that people in those roles use AI. Some conversations are left unclassified, so shares need not sum to 100.
Industries that concentrate this
Where Operating system software matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly use Operating system software (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5, or report using the tool category). 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 57.8% of workers are in occupations that significantly use Operating system software (measured across 67 industries).
Sectors with the most such workers
| Sector | Workers | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Trade | 12,684,580 | 81.3% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 9,877,600 | 42.8% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 8,035,490 | 74.6% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 6,302,340 | 44.3% |
| Construction | 5,919,680 | 72.9% |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 5,521,610 | 74.7% |
| Manufacturing | 5,418,590 | 42.5% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 4,936,500 | 54.7% |
| Finance and Insurance | 4,834,740 | 77.6% |
| Wholesale Trade | 4,434,500 | 73.5% |
| Educational Services | 3,945,660 | 28.9% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 2,595,950 | 58.6% |
Industries where it is most concentrated
| Industry | Level | Concentration | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting and Wall Covering Contractors | National industry | 1.61× | 93.2% |
| Roofing Contractors | National industry | 1.57× | 90.9% |
| Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | National industry | 1.56× | 90.2% |
| Sporting Goods Retailers | National industry | 1.5× | 86.5% |
| Information | Sector | 1.49× | 86.1% |
| Drywall and Insulation Contractors | National industry | 1.49× | 86.0% |
| Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors | National industry | 1.48× | 85.4% |
| Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | National industry | 1.47× | 84.8% |
| Engineering Services | National industry | 1.43× | 82.7% |
| Landscaping Services | National industry | 1.43× | 82.4% |
| Retail Trade | Sector | 1.41× | 81.3% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | Sector | 1.36× | 78.6% |
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.
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
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Operating system software." 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); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/tools/operating-system-software
Singulariki. (2026). Operating system software. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/tools/operating-system-software
@misc{singulariki-operating-system-software,
title = {Operating system software},
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); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/tools/operating-system-software}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.