Women in Clerical Jobs

Today more women are employed in clerical positions than in any other single occupation. More than two out of every five American workers employed full-time are women, who accounted for nearly three fifths of the increase in the labor force during the 1970s-13 million women compared with more than 9 million men. Over a million women a year were added to the work force with 1978 setting a record of 1.9 million women entering the labor market. By 1979, about 43 million women were in the labor force, about 42 percent of the total United States work force. Experts estimate that by 1990, 12 million more women will be in the work force, representing more than one out of every two women over age 16. More specifically, data on clerical workers reveal that 80 percent of the employees in this occupational category are women. Of the 18.2 million persons employed as clerical workers during November, 1980, 5.1 million were working as stenographers, typists, and secretaries; 13.1 million were employed as other clerical workers.

Although technological innovations in information processing decreased employment opportunities for clerical workers in jobs such as payroll, filing, customer billing, and inventory control, there was an increase in the number of clerical workers needed to prepare the information flow for computers. Secretaries, stenographers, typists, and receptionists are some of the categories that should not be adversely affected by computer installations. In fact, half the growth in the clerical group between 1972 and 1985, or 2.5 million, is from the increased demand for secretaries, typists, and receptionists in business services and legal services industries.

This article is designed to give some concept of the vast field of clerical work-what kinds of jobs are involved, the qualifications for them, the salaries paid, the working conditions, and the promotional possibilities. Hopefully this will give those who have only a vague notion about a "job in an office" a simple realistic discussion of the clerical field. With an insight into the kinds of jobs available, the principal duties involved, the effect of technological changes on job classifications, the training necessary for clerical work and promotional opportunities, readers may be motivated either for or against securing a position in clerical work, one of the fastest-growing occupational fields in the United States.



Successful business operations depend on countless written records of facts and figures. The preparation and maintenance of these records require millions of man-hours annually. Those who specialize in handling these records are generally known as clerks. There are many kinds of clerks. A clerk who does many kinds of office work is a general clerk. A clerk who does a particular kind of office work is a specialized clerk. Some specialized clerical jobs are those of typist, receptionist, file clerk, bookkeeper, stenographer, cashier, postal clerk, shipping and receiving clerk, statistical clerk, stock clerk, and office machine operator (duplicator operator, calculator operator, keypunch operator, and voice-writing equipment operator). Although the names of the jobs of specialized clerks do not always include the word clerk, they actually fall into the clerical classification of office jobs. The clerical field, as defined by the Department of Labor, covers a wide range of office occupations from messenger to the highly skilled positions of title searcher and examiner, executive secretary, or office manager with professional certification.