Office and Administrative Support
Word Processors and Typists
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.
Also called: Clerk Specialist, Clerk Typist, Keyboard Specialist, Stenographer, Typist, Word Processing Operator
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $53,740
- $25.84/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 190
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- −34.5%
- 20 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- High school diploma or equivalent
- plus Short-term on-the-job training
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $48,630 | $50,750 | $53,740 | $63,790 | $63,790 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d do
- File and store completed documents on computer hard drive or disk, or maintain a computer filing system to store, retrieve, update, and delete documents.
- Transmit work electronically to other locations.
- Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes.
- Electronically sort and compile text and numerical data, retrieving, updating, and merging documents as required.
- Check completed work for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format.
- Print and make copies of work.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Moderate exposure66 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 61
- Language-model AIOE 59
- GPTs-are-GPTs 78
Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)
AI exposure is moderate, and AI tools are already used a good deal for typing, formatting, and proofreading. Massachusetts projects 34.5% fewer of these jobs from 2024 to 2034, in part because other workers now type their own documents. Phone calls, mail, errands, and other office tasks depend more on people.
Likely to change
- Typing from drafts or recordings
- Checking spelling, grammar, and format
Still relies on people
- Answering phones and helping people directly
- Sorting mail and running errands
What federal projections say
“Occupational substitution, capital/labor substitution - share decreases as other workers assume the functions of typists due to the ubiquity of typing skills and traditional typing methods continue to be replaced by automated processes through use of machine learning (ML) technologies.”
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
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Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
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