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Office clerk

Also called clerical assistant, correspondence clerk

Office clerks are responsible for performing clerical and administrative duties in an office setting and support of business operations within a department. They assist all the administrative staff, secretaries, and assistants by sorting mail, filing forms and documents, answering phones, greeting clients and scheduling meetings.

Will there be jobs?Limited prospects18 jobs to fill by 2035 for every 100 people doing this work today.General and keyboard clerksWhat does it pay?About averageFrom about €1,100 (Bulgaria) to €5,200 (Luxembourg) a month, depending on the country.Estimate · General and keyboard clerksWhat do I need to study?Upper secondary or vocational6 in 10 finished upper secondary or vocational training.General and keyboard clerksWill AI change it?StronglyLevel 6 of 6. AI could take on part of most tasks, but none fully.General office clerks · ILO

What you'd do

General office clerks · ILO
  • Recording, preparing, sorting, classifying and filing information
  • Sorting, opening and sending mail
  • Photocopying and faxing documents
  • Preparing reports and correspondence of a routine nature
  • Recording issue of equipment to staff
  • Responding to telephone or electronic enquiries or forwarding to appropriate person
  • Checking figures, preparing invoices and recording details of financial transactions made
  • Transcribing information onto computers, and proofreading and correcting copy
Route correspondence to business departmentsPrepare correspondence for customersPerform office routine activitiesMaintain correspondence recordsFacilitate access to information+ 19 more essential skills
What the work is like
  • Indoors
  • Sitting most of the day
  • Constant contact with people, including the public
  • Some freedom to decide
  • Usually 40 hours a week
  • Deadlines most weeks
  • Very repetitive tasks
US data: based on the O*NET profile of the US job "Office Clerks, General"

Will there be jobs?

Limited prospects

Fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.

People working as general and keyboard clerks in the EU
6.61m8.91m8.7m 201520232035

Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.

Jobs to fill, 2026–2035
1,798,000 replacing leavers 200,000 jobs disappear
Jobs to fill per 100 people working now
General and keyboard clerks18
All jobs29
Right now
4 of 27 countries report a shortage of general office clerks, 15 a surplus.
General office clerks · EURES

What does it pay?

About average

Pay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,100 a month (Bulgaria) to €5,200 (Luxembourg), before tax.

Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.

Among clerical support workers in the EU, women earn 9% less per hour than men. Clerical support workers · Eurostat

What do I need to study?

Upper secondary or vocational

Upper secondary or vocational training is the usual route.

Highest qualification of general and keyboard clerks (EU, 2025)
Degree 35%Vocational 43%General secondary 15%Basic schooling 7%

Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.

Will AI change it?

Strongly

AI could take on part of most tasks, but none fully.

How exposed is this job? ILO scale
Very low
Low
Some tasks
Moderate
Significant
High

Average task score 0.60 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).

See the score for each of the 8 tasks
Transcribing information onto computers, and proofreading and correcting copy0.71
Checking figures, preparing invoices and recording details of financial transactions made0.69
Preparing reports and correspondence of a routine nature0.65
Responding to telephone or electronic enquiries or forwarding to appropriate person0.63
Recording, preparing, sorting, classifying and filing information0.59
Recording issue of equipment to staff0.56
Photocopying and faxing documents0.54
Sorting, opening and sending mail0.39

Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for general office clerks. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).