Business services are activities that benefit companies without delivering a physical commodity. For example, consulting, legal work and accounting are considered business services. The services can be delivered to internal and external customers.
These activities are typically more labor intensive than a product-based business and often require intangible assets such as expertise, knowledge and time. This type of service enables businesses to focus on their core competencies. Additionally, businesses may be able to leverage a variety of business services providers to reduce the cost of an activity or project.
The intangibility of business services makes them difficult to track, as they do not provide a physical presence. As such, it is important to ensure the quality of these services in order to have a positive impact on the customer experience. For example, a client who is treated poorly by their mental health counselor would not be likely to return.
In contrast to products, services are largely consumed as they are performed. Unlike goods, which can be stored for future use, services cannot be produced ahead of demand. Thus, it is important to have a flexible business model that can respond to customer needs quickly and efficiently.
The Professional and Business Services supersector includes jobs in management, technical, and administrative occupations, such as engineers, architects, clerks, accountants, and human resource managers. The table below shows information relating to employment and unemployment in this industry sector. It also provides job openings and labor turnover rates, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, and projections of occupational employment change.