Word Processors and Typists

Highest risk Lowest scored
Imminent Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

Desktop Publishers
34% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
56.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses formatting, layout, style sheets, file preparation, text flow, proof corrections, and publication deadlines.

Document Management Specialists
18% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
72.3 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies document control, indexing, versioning, metadata, retrieval, confidentiality, and records workflow discipline.

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
59% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Higher growth More jobs
31.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Transfers document preparation, correspondence, scheduling support, office software, records, calls, and accuracy.

File Clerks
66% automation risk | High Risk
Higher growth More jobs
24.9 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Transfers records organization, naming conventions, retrieval, confidentiality, scanning, indexing, and accuracy habits.

Correspondence Clerks
72% automation risk | High Risk
Higher growth
18.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses letters, templates, customer replies, grammar, records, document accuracy, and office communication.

Compare this job with others
or search for another job
Share your results with friends and family.

Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
1.2/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

90% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): This occupation appears highly exposed to end-to-end replacement by AI, software, robotics, or other computer-controlled systems. Roles in this range often involve predictable, repeatable, or rules-based work with limited need for human judgement, trust, creativity, or adaptation to messy real-world conditions. This does not mean every job will disappear immediately, but it is a strong signal to consider safer alternatives or start building more resilient skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Assisting and caring for others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 67 votes

82% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's very probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 90% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Word Processors and Typists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Word Processors and Typists was $47,850 ($23 per hour).

The median annual wage for Word Processors and Typists was 3.3% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Word Processors and Typists' job openings is expected to decline 36.1% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 36,030 people employed as 'Word Processors and Typists' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 4 thousand people are employed as 'Word Processors and Typists'.

People also viewed

Computer Programmers Web Developers Lawyers Actors Graphic Designers

What people are saying (3)

dhaarini (Highly likely)
10 Sep 2023 06:46
translation, converting sound to text are already well automated.
Holly (Low)
10 Apr 2021 04:08
Entire court cases had to be redone because they tried and have it done by robots. Most likely this one will always be a need unless we get insaaaainly better tech
Felipe (Uncertain)
27 Sep 2019 08:25
robots would most probably make mistakes and someone would be needed to check over
Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000

Job description

Use word processor, computer, or typewriter to type letters, reports, forms, or other material from rough draft, corrected copy, or voice recording. May perform other clerical duties as assigned.

O*NET-SOC code: 43-9022.00