Verbal communication is a measurable workplace requirement, an occupational skill, and an employer expectation. Recent BLS data shows that constant verbal interactions were required for 27.4% of U.S. workers in 2022, while NACE employers gave communication an importance rating of 4.55 out of five in its 2024 survey. The figures below distinguish job requirements, skill scores, employer ratings, and employment projections.
Contents
- What official labor data measures
- How common verbal communication is at work
- Occupations with high speaking-and-listening scores
- Employment and growth in communication-intensive occupations
- What employers expect from new graduates
- Communications-degree outcomes and destinations
What official labor data measures as verbal communication
The BLS speaking-and-listening measure is an occupational skill score, not a percentage of workers who communicate effectively. In the 2025 BLS data, the scale places several occupations near the top of the supplied examples.
Disc jockeys except radio received a speaking-and-listening score of 4.4. Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys also received 4.4. Education administrators in kindergarten through secondary schools and clergy each received 4.3. Anthropology and archeology teachers in postsecondary education and education teachers in postsecondary education each received 4.2. Communications teachers in postsecondary education and judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates each received 4.1. These are occupational scores for 2025, not individual assessments. Speaking and Listening, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Elementary school teachers, except special education, also received a 4.1 score for speaking and listening in 2025. That occupation accounted for 1,419.3 thousand jobs in the same BLS data. The employment count describes the size of the occupation; it does not convert the skill score into a percentage or measure how often each teacher speaks. Speaking and Listening, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
| Occupation or group | Speaking-and-listening score | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Disc jockeys except radio | 4.4 | 2025 |
| Broadcast announcers and radio disc jockeys | 4.4 | 2025 |
| Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary | 4.3 | 2025 |
| Clergy | 4.3 | 2025 |
| Elementary school teachers, except special education | 4.1 | 2025 |
| Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates | 4.1 | 2025 |
How common verbal communication is at work
The BLS Occupational Requirements Survey measured whether constant verbal interactions were required by a job. In 2022, constant verbal interactions were a requirement for 27.4% of all U.S. workers. This is a job requirement measure, not the share of a workday spent speaking and not a measure of communication quality. Occupational Requirements in the United States, 2022 A01 Results
The rates varied substantially across occupational groups. Constant verbal interactions were required for 32.5% of workers in healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, 28.9% in protective service occupations, and 22.7% in arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations. In legal occupations, the rate was 9.4%; among lawyers specifically, it was 9.8%.
Science and technical categories had lower reported rates in this measure, but verbal interaction was still present. Constant verbal interactions were required for 11.1% of workers in life, physical, and social science occupations, 5.8% in computer and mathematical occupations, and 3.1% in architecture and engineering occupations. The figures describe the occupational requirement captured by the ORS, rather than all communication that may occur occasionally or periodically.
Pharmacists were a notable occupation-level example: constant verbal interactions were required for 45.5% of pharmacists in the 2022 BLS results. That percentage should be read as a requirement classification, not as a claim that pharmacists spend 45.5% of their time speaking.
Occupations with high speaking-and-listening scores
High speaking-and-listening scores do not automatically mean fast employment growth. The BLS projections for 2025 to 2035 show different directions among occupations in which verbal communication is important.
BLS projects disc jockey employment to increase from 16.9 thousand in 2025 to 17.6 thousand in 2035, a 3.8% increase. By contrast, broadcast announcer and radio disc jockey employment is projected to decline from 21.8 thousand to 20.2 thousand, down 7.6%. Clergy employment is projected to grow from 242.0 thousand to 247.8 thousand, up 2.4%.
Several occupations that depend on explanation, persuasion, leadership, or interaction have larger projected employment bases. Lawyers are projected to grow from 863.7 thousand jobs in 2025 to 904.3 thousand in 2035, up 4.7%. Public relations specialists are projected to rise from 314.5 thousand to 320.2 thousand, up 1.8%. Coaches and scouts are projected to increase from 298.8 thousand to 316.9 thousand, up 6.1%, while producers and directors are projected to grow from 181.0 thousand to 188.3 thousand, up 4.0%.
The same BLS source projects management analyst employment to increase from 1,077.1 thousand in 2025 to 1,186.3 thousand in 2035, up 10.1%. Tour and travel guide employment is projected to rise from 62.2 thousand to 66.1 thousand, up 6.3%. Human resources specialist employment is projected to grow from 939.7 thousand to 999.7 thousand, up 6.4%. Police and sheriff patrol officer employment is projected to increase from 693.2 thousand to 717.3 thousand, up 3.5%. Speaking and Listening, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment and growth in communication-intensive occupations
Communication-heavy work appears across health, business, construction, language services, technology, retail, hospitality, and energy. The following BLS projections cover 2025 to 2035 and are estimates of future employment, not observed outcomes.
Speech-language pathologist employment is projected to rise from 193.4 thousand in 2025 to 225.5 thousand in 2035, up 16.6%. Marketing manager employment is projected to increase from 421.6 thousand to 450.8 thousand, up 6.9%. Public safety telecommunicator employment is projected to grow from 105.6 thousand to 109.5 thousand, up 3.7%.
Construction manager employment is projected to rise from 609.1 thousand to 664.3 thousand, up 9.1%. Interpreter and translator employment is projected to increase from 73.9 thousand to 75.4 thousand, up 2.0%. Software developer employment is projected to grow from 1,717.8 thousand to 1,892.6 thousand, up 10.2%.
The projections also show that communication is not limited to occupations usually labeled as speaking professions. Cashier employment is projected to fall from 3,106.3 thousand in 2025 to 2,905.7 thousand in 2035, down 6.5%, while bartender employment is projected to rise from 762.6 thousand to 800.5 thousand, up 5.0%. Wind turbine service technician employment is projected to increase from 11.8 thousand to 15.3 thousand, up 29.5%. These projections describe employment change; they do not rank occupations by speaking skill. Speaking and Listening, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
What employers expect from new graduates
NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 survey shows a strong difference between the importance employers assign to communication and their assessment of recent graduates’ proficiency. Employers rated communication 4.55 on a five-point importance scale. They rated recent graduates’ communication proficiency 3.62 on the same five-point scale. NACE defines a very or extremely important or proficient response as a rating of 4 or 5. Job Outlook 2024
Communication was very or extremely important to 99.5% of NACE employer respondents hiring college graduates. Only 55.2% rated recent graduates very or extremely proficient in communication. These percentages refer to employer respondents in the 2024 survey, not to all employers or all graduates.
The resume signals employers sought also separated verbal and written communication. Verbal communication skills appeared on resumes sought by 67.5% of NACE respondents, while written communication skills appeared on resumes sought by 72.7%. Interpersonal skills describing how well a candidate relates to others appeared on resumes sought by 58.2% of respondents. The categories overlap conceptually, so these figures should not be added together.
| NACE measure | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Communication importance rating | 4.55 out of 5 | Job Outlook 2024 |
| Recent graduates’ communication proficiency | 3.62 out of 5 | Job Outlook 2024 |
| Communication very or extremely important | 99.5% | Job Outlook 2024 |
| Recent graduates very or extremely proficient | 55.2% | Job Outlook 2024 |
| Resumes sought with verbal communication skills | 67.5% | Job Outlook 2024 |
| Resumes sought with written communication skills | 72.7% | Job Outlook 2024 |
Communications-degree outcomes and career destinations
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook presents communications-degree outcomes using 2023 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The data covers employed workers with a communications degree in the United States. It is not a salary guarantee for a particular role or graduate. Field of degree: Communications, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The 2023 ACS data shown by BLS counted 3,079,130 employed workers with a communications degree. Their median annual wage was $65,000. Fourteen percent were employed part time. These measures describe workers with the degree, including people in varied occupations and career stages.
Education and occupational level also varied. Fifty-five percent of workers with a communications degree were in occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree in 2023, and 24% had an advanced degree. The degree therefore appears across both graduate-level and non-graduate-level occupational destinations.
Management occupations employed 23% of workers with a communications degree, the largest specific destination reported in the supplied figures. Sales and related occupations employed 11%. These shares illustrate how communication training can connect to management and customer-facing work, but they do not describe every occupation held by communications graduates or establish that the degree caused a particular career outcome.
The combined labor data points to a broad pattern: verbal communication is measured differently depending on the question. BLS skill scores describe occupations, ORS percentages describe job requirements, BLS projections describe possible future employment levels, NACE ratings describe employer respondents, and ACS-based degree outcomes describe employed communications graduates in 2023. Keeping those definitions and periods separate is essential when interpreting verbal communication statistics.