# Office Clerks, General

> Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.

- **SOC code:** 43-9061.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-43-9061-00
- **Also known as:** Clerk, Office Assistant, Office Clerk, Office Services Specialist, Administrative Clerk (Admin Clerk), Clerical Aide, Clerical Assistant, General Clerk
- **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):
- Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
- Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
- Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
- Collect, count, and disburse money, do basic bookkeeping, and complete banking transactions.
- Complete and mail bills, contracts, policies, invoices, or checks.
- Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
- Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
- Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail.
- Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.
- Process and prepare documents, such as business or government forms and expense reports.
- Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.
- Complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Administrative _(knowledge)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Written Expression _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Speech Recognition _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Google Workspace software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Acrobat _(hot technology)_
- Adobe InDesign _(hot technology)_
- Facebook _(hot technology)_
- Google Docs _(hot technology)_
- Henry Schein Dentrix _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 73rd percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 73rd percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 64th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 78th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 91st percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -6.7% growth (Declining); 282.4k annual openings; 2,646k → 2,468.2k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $43,630; 2,510,550 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

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

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 59% automation, 37% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** feedback loop.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software. _(113.6% of measured AI use; feedback loop)_
- Process and prepare documents, such as business or government forms and expense reports. _(4.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments. _(2.7% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers. _(2.0% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Prepare meeting agendas, attend meetings, and record and transcribe minutes. _(1.1% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages. _(1.0% of measured AI use; none)_
- Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests. _(0.9% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints. _(0.7% of measured AI use; task iteration)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software.
- Help me process and prepare documents, such as business or government forms and expense reports.
- Help me complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments.
- Help me operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
- Help me prepare meeting agendas, attend meetings, and record and transcribe minutes.

## 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-43-9061-00_