Business services are the various tasks and activities that help maintain a company without delivering any physical product. The industry is very large, and the types of services vary widely. They include a variety of areas such as accounting, marketing, information technology, warehousing, and shipping. Generally, business services are sold to businesses rather than to consumers.
People working in service-based industries often need advanced degrees or specialized training. People who work in this sector also differ from those working in product-based operations because they aren’t primarily in the business of creating physical products; they’re in the business of offering their skills and knowledge.
Companies use business-to-business (B2B) services to save time, focus on core business activities, and reach new markets. They also help reduce costs and improve productivity and quality by outsourcing some of their non-core functions, such as logistics.
In addition to affecting the efficiency of processes, customers can also have a significant impact on the cost and quality of service delivered. For example, a customer who dithers at a fast-food counter can slow down the speed of service for everyone behind him.
The Professional and Business Services supersector is a large and important sector of the economy. These data tables present an overview of the industry, including employment and unemployment in the sector, average wages, job openings, labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, and projections of occupational employment change.