Professional and Business Services – A Varied Sector
July 22, 2026Professional and business services employ more than a quarter of a million workers in Oregon and represent one of the state’s more diverse super sectors. It is composed of three subsectors: (1) professional, scientific, and technical services; (2) management of companies and enterprises; and (3) administrative and support and waste management.
The super sector includes establishments that provide specialized services requiring a high level of training, expertise, or technical skills. These range from architecture and accounting firms to organizations that manage and oversee corporate operations, as well as businesses that provide routine operational support to other firms. Given the sector’s diversity, no single description fully captures the scope of activities.
A Large Sector with Significant Employment
In 2025, professional and business services had 36,800 firms which employed 253,300 workers, accounting for nearly 13% of Oregon’s private-sector employment.
| Industry | Firms | Employment | Annual Average Wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private | |||
| Professional and business services | 36,813 | 253,324 | $96,774 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 25,671 | 108,518 | $111,828 |
| Computer systems design and related services | 4,424 | 17,452 | $160,297 |
| Engineering services | 1,571 | 13,098 | $117,205 |
| Management consulting services | 4,500 | 12,696 | $112,070 |
| Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll | 2,626 | 11,885 | $84,194 |
| Offices of lawyers | 2,621 | 11,520 | $116,422 |
| Veterinary services | 623 | 8,466 | $61,609 |
| Research and development in the physical, engineer | 1,077 | 5,884 | $142,291 |
| Other scientific and technical consulting services | 2,557 | 5,864 | $107,026 |
| All other professional, scientific, and technical | 1,466 | 3,468 | $123,939 |
| Architectural services | 523 | 2,943 | $100,130 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 1,587 | 47,388 | $146,528 |
| Administrative and support and waste management | 9,090 | 90,444 | $54,390 |
| Temporary help services | 1,284 | 28,982 | $52,946 |
| Landscaping services | 2,075 | 12,635 | $52,909 |
| Janitorial services | 1,488 | 11,546 | $33,214 |
| Investigation, guard, and armored car services | 366 | 9,688 | $46,504 |
| Waste management and remediation services | 466 | 6,975 | $74,126 |
| Professional employer organizations | 289 | 6,016 | $50,039 |
| Telephone call centers | 161 | 3,717 | $76,990 |
| All other support services | 380 | 3,679 | $53,293 |
| Office administrative services | 603 | 2,315 | $104,540 |
| Security systems services | 197 | 1,847 | $84,147 |
| Government | |||
| Professional and business services | 216 | 6,897 | $106,529 |
The largest component of professional and business services was professional, scientific, and technical services with 25,700 firms that employed 108,500 workers. This sector includes 34 different industries, including law offices, architectural services, laboratory testing, computer systems design, environmental consulting agencies, photography services, and veterinary services. Collectively the sector accounts for 43% of professional and business services employment. The largest industries were computer systems design and related services with 17,500 workers, engineering services with 13,100 workers, and management consulting services with 12,700 workers.
The second largest sector, administrative and waste management services, included 9,100 firms that employed 90,400 workers in 2025. This subsector includes more than 25 industries, such as call centers, temporary help services, credit bureau agencies, travel agencies, landscaping services, and waste treatment and disposal. These industries represent 36% of the super sector’s employment. The largest industries were temporary help services with 29,000 workers, landscaping services with 12,600 workers, and janitorial services with 11,500 workers.
The smallest subsector is management of companies and enterprises, which accounts for 1,600 firms that employed 47,400 workers. This sector holds a broad array of occupations that all share responsibilities like oversight and managing of establishments, including headquarter operations and regional management offices. These account for the remaining 19% of employment in the super sector.
In addition, there were 216 government entities in 2025 employing 6,900 workers, within professional and business services in 2025. While a relatively small share of total employment, the public sector jobs are also very diverse. Some prominent jobs are engineering, landscape services, computer systems design, and janitorial services.
Regional Industry Mix and Wages Vary
The industries that comprise the professional and business services super sector vary by geography, contributing to regional differences in employment and wages. Areas with higher concentrations of professional and technical services or management of companies and enterprises tend to have higher average wages, reflecting the specialized and often high-skilled nature of these jobs. In contrast, regions with a high proportion of administrative and waste management services, specifically industries such as call centers, temporary help firms, and laborious services such as waste disposal or landscaping services have relatively lower wages.
Urban counties like Washington and Multnomah have a greater concentration of professional and technical industries and company headquarters with high annual average wages. However, some rural counties report relatively higher wages depending on their industry mix. For example, Hood River County has a large share of employment in engineering services, while Gilliam County has employment concentrated in management of companies and waste remediation services, both of which tend to have higher average wages. More broadly, rural counties that have employment related to a company headquarters, in the management of enterprises and companies’ subsector, may experience elevated wages within professional and business services.
| Area | Units | Employment | Wages | Annual Average Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 36,813 | 253,324 | $24,515,280,560 | $96,774 |
| Washington County | 5,072 | 52,806 | $6,058,387,562 | $114,729 |
| Multnomah County | 9,320 | 78,516 | $8,516,192,938 | $108,464 |
| Hood River County | 239 | 970 | $98,390,295 | $101,433 |
| Clackamas County | 3,324 | 24,255 | $2,357,253,664 | $97,186 |
| Deschutes County | 2,510 | 11,033 | $1,017,157,934 | $92,192 |
| Gilliam County | 18 | 224 | $20,428,539 | $91,199 |
| Wheeler County | 4 | 5 | $426,256 | $85,251 |
| Benton County | 582 | 4,221 | $354,038,995 | $83,876 |
| Jackson County | 1,321 | 7,815 | $567,758,661 | $72,650 |
| Morrow County | 39 | 221 | $16,039,089 | $72,575 |
Employment Growing Over Time
Professional and business services in Oregon has experienced long-term expansion since the early 1990s.
A series of subsequent shocks to the economy brought a mild economic downturn at the start of the 2000s. The decline in economic activity felt within this sector was most likely due to the Dotcom crash, a correction in the high-tech industry. From 2000 to 2003, professional and business services employment lost about 6% while private-sector employment decreased only 3%. Computer systems design and related services dropped 30%. However, business support services, such as telephone call centers, grew 29% from 2001 to 2003.
Professional and business services resumed growth from 2004 to 2007 gaining 12%. All major sectors within the super sector gained jobs during this time and notably, management of firms added 17%. Administrative and support services gained 10%.
The Great Recession introduced turmoil to the general economy and from 2007 to 2009, professional and business services dropped 8%. The professional and technical sector dipped relatively less during the recession because industries such as computer systems and design gained jobs over the period. Management of companies also added jobs from 2007 to 2010. The largest loss came from the volatile temporary help industry, which dropped 35% between 2006 and 2009. The temporary help industry also assisted the overall super sector in recovery from the recession.
A period of strong economic expansion followed the Great Recession, lasting from 2010 to 2019. Professional and business services employment grew at an average rate of 3.2% for nine years. This compares with Oregon’s private payroll that increased by an average of 2.3% annually during that period.
Professional and technical services added 40%, fueled by computer systems design and related services, which added 73%. Administrative and support services added 26%, with temporary help services contributing about one-third of the gains. Management of companies and enterprises increased payrolls 44% during those nine years, although some of that growth is from redefining companies into the industry.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented layoffs and plummeting employment levels. With most non-essential business coming to a halt, Oregon’s professional and business services lost 8% in a single month from March to April of 2020.
Professional and technical services sector experienced a relatively limited loss of 1% from 2019 to 2020. Services related to advertising took the biggest hit, losing 42% from 2019 to 2020. Business operation services like accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll services lost 2% from 2019 to 2021. The sector was able to regain employment by 2021, the fastest out of the three sectors.
The administrative and waste services sector took the biggest hit. Many frontline jobs in this sector cannot be done remotely and most were negatively affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Consequently, this sector lost 8% from 2019 to 2020. Employment services dropped 17% from 2019 to 2020.
Management of companies and enterprises lost 3%. Although it did not experience the largest impact, it did take the longest to recover. It was not until the fourth quarter of 2022 that this sector surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels.
Recent Trends
Following the post-pandemic recovery, professional and business services reached a record annual average of 265,700 jobs in 2023. The sector added 8,000 jobs in 2021 (+3.3%) and 12,400 (+5.1%) jobs in 2022 as economic activity resumed coming out of the pandemic. After peaking in 2023, employment gradually declined, falling by about 5,000 (-1.9%) jobs in 2024 and another 5,800 (-2.2%) jobs in 2025. Despite these recent declines, employment remains comparable to 2019 levels.
Management of companies and enterprises has also experienced a gradual decline following a post-pandemic peak in 2023, pushing employment below both pre-pandemic and 2020 levels. Employment declined by 3.1% in 2024 and another 3.6% in 2025.
Administrative and waste services experienced a prolonged slowdown since employment reached a peak in 2022. Employment declined 1.8% in 2023 and continued to contract in 2024 and 2025 falling by another 2.9% and 2.3%. By 2025 employment was below pre-pandemic employment levels. Declines were partially driven by losses in employment services, which shed 7.4% in 2024 and another 5.2% in 2025. The recent declines contrast with the sector’s early recovery from the pandemic, when employment rebounded earlier than other subsectors.
Outlook
Looking ahead, the professional and business services super sector is projected to expand over the next decade. The Oregon employment department forecasts the sector will add 25,900 (+10%) jobs between 2024 and 2034, outpacing the statewide employment growth rate of 6%.
Professional and technical services is expected to drive projected growth, increasing by 15% and accounting for 16,100 total job openings over the decade. Within the subsector, architectural and engineering services is projected to lead Oregon in employment growth, increasing by 23% and generating 4,300 total job openings. Other noteworthy growth industries include services and building dwellings, which is projected to have an estimated 3,000 (+11%) jobs openings, and computer systems design and related services, expected to add 1,700 (+10%) openings.
Not all industries are projected to grow. Business and support services is projected to decline by 20%, a loss of 1,300 jobs and the second largest employment decline among Oregon industries. Legal services is also forecasted to decline by 3% over the decade.
Additional information on the employment and wages of the industries in professional and business services can be found at QualityInfo.org.