Many organizations process large amounts of information and data in the course of their daily operations. Typists, word processors, and data entry keyers often are responsible for ensuring that this work is handled smoothly and efficiently.
Typists and word processors usually set up and enter reports, letters, mailing labels, and other text material. Typists make neat, typed copies of materials written by other clerical, professional, or managerial workers. They may begin as entry level workers by typing headings on form letters, addressing envelopes, or preparing standard forms on electric or electronic typewriters. As they gain experience, they may begin to do routine typing, such as insurance policies, or to type from handwritten drafts. Often, they perform other office tasks as well: answering telephones, filing, and operating copiers, calculators, and other office machines.
More experienced typists do work that requires a higher degree of accuracy and independent judgment. Senior typists work from rough drafts that are difficult to read or that contain technical material. They may plan and type complicated statistical tables, combine and rearrange materials from different sources, or prepare master copies to be reproduced on photocopiers.
Job titles of typists vary by duties performed and by work setting. For example, clerk typists combine typing with filing, sorting mail, answering telephones, and other general office work. Note-readers transcribe stenotyped notes of court proceedings into standard formats.
In many organizations, word processing centers handle the transcription and typing for several departments. Regardless of how work is organized, most typing is now done more quickly on automated word processing equipment. Word processors use this equipment to record, edit, store, and revise letters, memos, reports, statistical tables, forms, and other printed materials. Word processing or automated equipment usually a personal computer or part of a larger computer system normally includes a keyboard, a video display terminal, and a printer, and may have add-on capabilities such as optical character recognition readers. This way, information and instructions can be received through the machine.
Data entry keyers usually fill forms that appear on a computer screen or enter lists of items or numbers. They also may manipulate existing data, edit current information, or proofread new entries to a database. They may enter customers' personal information, orders for supplies, or update membership lists. Usually this information is used internally by the company and may be reformatted before, say, use by a professional for an accounting report or by the billing department to send to a customer.
Keyers can enter data on a variety of typewriter-like equipment. Many keyers use a machine that converts the information they type to magnetic impulses on tapes or disks for entry into a computer system. Others prepare materials for printing or publication by using data entry composing machines. Some keyers operate on-line terminals or personal computers. Data entry keyers are increasingly exposed to non-keyboard forms of data entry and are working more with scanners and electronically transmitted files. In some offices, keyers also operate computer peripheral equipment such as printers and tape readers, act as tape librarians, and perform other clerical duties.
Job prospects will be best for workers who are familiar with a variety of software packages.
Typists, word processors, and data entry keyers usually work in clean offices. They sit for long periods and sometimes must contend with high noise levels caused by various office machines such as printers. These workers generally work a standard 40-hour week. In some cities, especially in the Northeast, the scheduled workweek is 37 hours or less.
Some word processors and data entry keyers work in large, centralized word processing centers that are relatively isolated from other operational areas. Others, however, are located in departments that are physically dispersed throughout the organization, so they often work more closely with other employees.
Recent research on occupational health and safety has been concerned with the hazards to physical and mental health posed by new types of office equipment. Studies have found that word processors and data entry keyers who work full time on video terminals experience musculoskeletal strain, eye problems, and stress. Repetitive strain injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, may also affect typists, word processors, and data entry keyers.
Typists, word processors, and data entry keyers held about 1,238,000 jobs in 1992 and were employed in every sector of the economy. Office work lends itself to alternative or flexible working arrangements; many of these workers hold temporary jobs and 1 in 5 works part time. Some of these part-time workers are self-employed freelancers; others take short-term jobs through temporary help agencies. Some workers telecommute. That is, they work from their homes via personal computers linked by telephone lines to those in the main office. This enables them to type material at home and almost instantly produce printed copy in an office miles away. These home-based jobs often do not include the full range of benefits that full-time office workers enjoy, and they lack the advantages of social interaction on the job.
Four of every 10 typists, word processors, and data entry keyers held jobs in educational institutions, health care facilities, law offices, and firms that provide business services. Among the latter are temporary help agencies and word processing service bureaus. One in four worked in government agencies at various levels.
Employers generally hire high school graduates who can meet their requirements for keyboarding speed. Keyboarding skills can be learned in different ways in high schools, community colleges, business schools, home study schools, or on one's own, using self-teaching aids such as books, records, and personal computers. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar skills are also important, as is familiarity with standard office equipment and procedures.
Increasingly, employers also expect applicants to have word processing or data entry training or experience. Many community colleges, business schools, and temporary help agencies teach students to use word processing, spreadsheet, and database management computer software packages.
For many people, a job as a typist, word processor, or data entry keyer is their first job after graduating from high school or after a period of full-time family responsibilities. This work frequently serves as a steppingstone to higher paying, more responsible jobs. Large companies and government agencies generally have training programs to help clerical employees upgrade their skills and advance to positions with more responsibilities. It is common for typists, word processors, and data entry keyers to transfer to other clerical jobs, such as secretary, statistical clerk, or court reporter, or to be promoted to a supervisory job in a word processing or data entry center.
Employment of typists, word processors, and data entry keyers is expected to decline through the year 2005 despite rapid growth in the production of information and volume of business transactions. This is an indication of the significant productivity gains expected to continue among office workers due to increasing office automation. Technological advances and restructuring of work processes should enable fewer typists, word processors, and data entry keyers to handle a bigger workload. A couple of hundred thousand openings will still occur each year, however, as workers transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.
Technological advances are driving these productivity gains. Most important among these is the proliferation of personal computers, which has enabled other workers to perform work formerly done by typists, word processors, and data entry keyers. Most professionals and managers now use desktop personal computers or work stations to enter data and do their own word processing.
Many data entry and word processing departments have decentralized in much the same way that technology has in today's offices. Some larger organizations still have central word processing and data entry departments, but most have moved to a more dispersed, leaner staff which is more flexible. Another indication of this trend is the recent increase in part-time work and the growth of the temporary services industry, which accounts for a significant portion of the growth in these occupations.
Further automation of tasks is expected and should continue to reduce the demand for typists, word processors, and data entry keyers. For example, bar code scanners are now used in many retail establishments and their use should continue to spread to smaller establishments as prices fall. More sophisticated optical character recognition readers, which scan documents and enter their text and data into a computer, are being used in more and more workplaces. This technology is being improved and should be widely used in the 1990's. Researchers are also developing voice recognition technologies that enable people to enter text and data by simply speaking to a computer. It is not clear when this technology is likely to affect employment patterns, but its effects could be significant.
In addition to these technologies designed to make traditional data entry more productive, others are being implemented which aim to make it unnecessary. Data is being captured at the point of origin and entered into the system without human intervention. An example of this in the banking industry is automatic teller machines. As telecommunications technology improves, many organizations will network computers allowing more data to be electronically transmitted, thus avoiding the reentry of data.
Job prospects will be brightest for those typists, word processors, and data entry keyers with the best technical skills. Applicants for such positions, however, will increasingly need to be flexible and willing to continuously develop their skills. In particular, the more computer software packages these workers know or expertise they have in combining word processing with graphics or spreadsheets, the better their job opportunities will be.
Typists and data entry keyers in metropolitan areas earned average salaries of $20,000 in 1992, while word processors averaged $23,000. Typists generally receive higher salaries if they have word processing experience.
In the Federal Government in 1993, clerk-typists and data entry keyers without work experience each started at about $13,400 a year. In some metropolitan areas, higher salaries are paid because of shortages of qualified personnel. The average annual salary for all clerk-typists in the Federal Government in 1993 was about $18,800.
Typists, word processors, and data entry keyers must transcribe information quickly. Other workers who must deliver information in a timely manner are stenographers, court reporters, dispatchers, and telephone operators.
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Reprinted with Permission of U. S. Department of Labor