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Telephone Operators vs Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Telephone Operators and Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Telephone Operators Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$39,130
$38,370
Employment · BLS OEWS
3,950
35,730
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
96th pct
88th pct

At a glance

Dimension Telephone Operators Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
Median pay $39,130 $38,370
Employment 3,950 35,730
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-27.5%) Declining (-26.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 300 2,800
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies High · 96th pct High · 88th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 92nd pct · 54% of tasks 92nd pct · 54% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (55.6%) Automation-leaning (43.1%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No Yes

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Customer and Personal Service, Oral Expression, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Comprehension, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Telecommunications, Administrative, Service Orientation, English Language, Social Perceptiveness, Computers and Electronics, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Written Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Selective Attention, Near Vision, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Monitoring, Written Expression, Information Ordering, Complex Problem Solving, Administration and Management, Coordination, Time Management, Category Flexibility, Auditory Attention, Public Safety and Security, Writing, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Perceptual Speed, Personnel and Human Resources, Communications and Media.

Specific to Telephone Operators

  • Finger Dexterity
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Education and Training

Specific to Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

  • Far Vision
  • Time Sharing
  • Mathematics

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Office suite software , Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Operating system software , Word processing software .

Specific to Telephone Operators

Specific to Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Telephone Operators or Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Telephone Operators vs Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/telephone-operators-vs-switchboard-operators-including-answering-service

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Telephone Operators vs Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/telephone-operators-vs-switchboard-operators-including-answering-service

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-telephone-operators-vs-switchboard-operators-including-answering-service,
  title  = {Telephone Operators vs Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/telephone-operators-vs-switchboard-operators-including-answering-service}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.