Information Clerks Job Outlook

Employment of information clerks is expected to grow by 7 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. However, employment growth will vary by specialty. Projected employment change for specific types of information clerks from 2010 to 2020 is as follows:

• Employment of interviewers is projected to grow by 17 percent. Rapid growth in the healthcare and market research industries that employ most of these workers will generate jobs for interviewers. However, the expanding use of online surveys and questionnaires for market research, as well as the increasing use of digital health records, is expected to limit growth.
• Employment of human resources assistants is expected to grow by 11 percent. Because more offices are moving toward electronic methods of recordkeeping, demand for these workers, who help maintain personnel records, will decrease.
• Employment of hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks: is projected to grow by 11 percent. As developers open new hotels, the number of jobs for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks should increase. In addition, jobs should be created through demand from consumers who begin traveling again as the economy recovers from the 2007-09 recession.
• Employment of court, municipal, and license clerks is expected grow by 8 percent. Growth is expected because of increases in demand for government and court services. As more citizens seek licenses and other municipal records, towns, cities, and courts will need to hire more clerks to handle their requests.
• Employment of order clerks is projected to grow by 7 percent. Improvements to technology have decreased the need for these workers. As more consumers buy online, demand for order clerks will continue to decline.
• Employment of reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks is expected to grow by 6 percent. Increased use of online reservations systems and self-service ticketing machines will reduce the number of people needed to provide the services these workers offer.
• Employment of eligibility interviewers is projected to grow by 3 percent. The increase in the number of baby boomers retiring and becoming eligible for Social Security and other government entitlement programs will be the main cause of growth in this occupation. However, automation should reduce employment growth for some eligibility interviewers as more government programs allow people to apply for assistance online.
• Employment of file clerks is expected to decline by 5 percent. Declines are expected as businesses, including doctors’ offices, increasingly convert to electronic recordkeeping systems. As a result, fewer file clerks will be needed to maintain and organize files. In addition, duties that file clerks used to do will increasingly be done by other workers.
• Employment of correspondence clerks is projected to decline by 12 percent. As duties previously handled by correspondence clerks are increasingly given to other workers, such as administrative assistants, fewer jobs will be available for correspondence clerks.
• Employment of all other information and recordkeeping clerks is expected to grow by 1 percent.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition