Career Trends: General Office Clerks

General office clerks perform a variety of clerical tasks, including answering telephones, typing documents, and filing records.

Although general office clerks are employed in nearly every industry, many work in schools, healthcare facilities, and government offices. About 1 in 4 worked part time in 2014.

General office clerks typically need a high school diploma or equivalent. Most learn their skills on the job.

Employment of general office clerks is projected to grow 3 percent from 2014 to 2024, slower than the average for all occupations. Overall job opportunities should be good, however, because of the need to replace workers who leave the occupation. Candidates who have a combination of work experience and knowledge of computer applications should have the best job prospects.

This occupation supported 2,983,500 jobs in 2012 and 3,062,500 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 2.6%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 6.2% in 2022 to 3,167,600 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 3,020,300, compared with an observed value of 3,062,500, 1.4% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are about on track with the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 3.2% in 2024 to 3,158,200 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 3,204,400 jobs for 2024, 1.5% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are about on track with the 2012 trend within this occupation.