Level of Competition
Work context · O*NET
Level of Competition is a work-context dimension in the O*NET database — one of the standardized conditions O*NET uses to describe the environment a job is done in , grouped under Structural Job Characteristics. O*NET defines it by asking workers: "To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures?." It is rated for 894 occupations, which average 3.04 out of 5 (moderate relative to other context dimensions).
How it's measured
O*NET rates each occupation on this dimension on a 1–5 context-importance scale (the CX scale), where higher means the condition is a more frequent or more central part of the work. The figures on this page are those occupation-level ratings — a description of working conditions as workers report them, not a judgment about pay, difficulty, or whether a job is "good."
| Economy-wide average | 3.04 / 5 | Mean across all 894 rated occupations |
| Range across occupations | 1.26–4.85 | Lowest to highest occupation rating (spread 3.59) |
| Intensity vs. other dimensions | 55th pct | Where this dimension's average ranks among all O*NET work-context dimensions |
Occupations where it's highest
The occupations that rate this condition strongest on the 1–5 scale.
| Occupation | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate Sales Agents | 4.85 | |
| Real Estate Brokers | 4.60 | |
| Investment Fund Managers | 4.54 | |
| Nurse Anesthetists | 4.50 | |
| Advertising Sales Agents | 4.49 | |
| Choreographers | 4.48 | |
| Sound Engineering Technicians | 4.48 | |
| Writers and Authors | 4.46 | |
| Athletes and Sports Competitors | 4.44 | |
| Financial Quantitative Analysts | 4.42 | |
| Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric | 4.42 | |
| Barbers | 4.37 | |
| Emergency Medicine Physicians | 4.37 | |
| Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists | 4.37 | |
| Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas | 4.37 | |
| Sales Managers | 4.35 | |
| Video Game Designers | 4.35 | |
| Graphic Designers | 4.32 | |
| Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers | 4.32 | |
| Political Scientists | 4.32 | |
| Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance | 4.30 | |
| Actors | 4.24 | |
| Photographers | 4.24 | |
| Physician Assistants | 4.24 | |
| First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators | 4.22 |
Occupations where it's lowest
The occupations that rate this condition weakest — where it is rarely part of the work.
How AI is used by roles where level of competition is central
A working condition is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the occupations where it is most central and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across the roles that rate this condition 3 or higher (CX-rating-weighted). 59.4% of the 480 occupations where this condition is present carry observed AI-usage data (285 roles).
Across those roles, 48.9% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 30.4% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.66 / 5.
| Collaboration pattern | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| directive | 28.4% | AI does it; you give the instruction |
| task iteration | 25.4% | you and AI go back and forth |
| learning | 20.2% | you ask AI to explain or teach |
| validation | 3.4% | you do it; AI checks your work |
| feedback loop | 2.0% | AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback |
Roles behind this signal
The occupations where this condition is most central and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.
| Occupation | Condition (1–5) | Works with AI | Autonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers | 4.3 | 46.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Editors | 3.3 | 68.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.3 | 65.2% | 3.0/5 |
| Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.9 | 66.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.5 | 66.8% | 3.3/5 |
| Geography Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.9 | 65.7% | 3.3/5 |
| Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 65.3% | 3.5/5 |
| History Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.9 | 65.1% | 3.5/5 |
| Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 65.7% | 3.3/5 |
| Technical Writers | 3.0 | 54.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Economics Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.5 | 65.7% | 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. This is a role-weighted projection from AEI-linked occupations where this condition is central, not a direct measurement of AI use for the condition itself. Shares are weighted by how central the condition is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.
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
- 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. "Level of Competition." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/work-context/level-of-competition
Singulariki. (2026). Level of Competition. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/work-context/level-of-competition
@misc{singulariki-level-of-competition,
title = {Level of Competition},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/work-context/level-of-competition}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.