# Order Clerks

> Receive and process incoming orders for materials, merchandise, classified ads, or services such as repairs, installations, or rental of facilities. Generally receives orders via mail, phone, fax, or other electronic means. Duties include informing customers of receipt, prices, shipping dates, and delays; preparing contracts; and handling complaints.

- **SOC code:** 43-4151.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-4151-00
- **Also known as:** Materials Specialist, Order Clerk, Warehouse Clerk, Warehouse Person, Hub Associate, Order Analyst, Order Entry Administrator (Order Entry Admin), Order Entry Representative (Order Entry Rep)
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing.
- Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this information on order forms.
- Prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts.
- Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs.
- Inspect outgoing work for compliance with customers' specifications.
- Receive and respond to customer complaints.
- Check inventory records to determine availability of requested merchandise.
- Verify customer and order information for correctness, checking it against previously obtained information as necessary.
- Confer with production, sales, shipping, warehouse, or common carrier personnel to expedite or trace shipments.
- Direct specified departments or units to prepare and ship orders to designated locations.
- Adjust inventory records to reflect product movement.
- Collect payment for merchandise, record transactions, and send items, such as checks or money orders for further processing.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Computers and Electronics _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Speech Recognition _(ability)_
- Education and Training _(knowledge)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Speech Clarity _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Acrobat _(hot technology)_
- Apple Safari _(hot technology)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Edge _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Mozilla Firefox _(hot technology)_
- SAP software _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 91st percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 69th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 95th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 92nd percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 97th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -17.2% growth (Declining); 8k annual openings; 89.5k → 74.1k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $44,660; 83,420 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 38% automation, 45% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.5 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** task iteration.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs. _(1.0% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts. _(0.4% of measured AI use; task iteration)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs.
- Help me prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-4151-00_