Elementary administration
occupations n.e.c.
Job holders in this unit group perform a variety of elementary clerical and administrative tasks within offices not elsewhere classified in minor group: 921 Elementary administration occupations.
- Employees (UK)
- 23k
- Median annual pay
- £23,005
- Exposure score ?
- 4.7/10 Moderate 7.0/10 High strict reading, with tools is 7.0/10 with-tools reading, strict is 4.7/10
- Wage exposure
- £249m £370m
Higher exposure than 95% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
A real share of the task list is within reach, especially drafting, summarising, research and analysis. People in this role who learn to direct AI well will pull ahead of those who do not.
If you are in this role
Treat AI like a capable junior you manage. Where you would hand a task to a junior with a clear brief, AI can do it now. Spend the time you get back on judgement and relationships.
Most of the routine work in this role can already be done by a capable model. The role does not disappear, but its shape changes, and one person can credibly cover the work of several.
If you are in this role
Stop spending time on what a model can do well. Your value is judgement, relationships and the parts of the work that need you in the room. Redesign the workflow around that before someone else does it for you.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
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Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
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Input data, such as file numbers, new or updated information, or document information codes into computer systems to support document and information retrieval.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
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Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
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Input data, such as file numbers, new or updated information, or document information codes into computer systems to support document and information retrieval.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "File Clerks" (43-4071.00).
What AI can already do
12 of 19 tasks, unaided
Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
Input data, such as file numbers, new or updated information, or document information codes into computer systems to support document and information retrieval.
Gather materials to be filed from departments or employees.
Track materials removed from files to ensure that borrowed files are returned.
Add new material to file records or create new records as necessary.
Sort or classify information according to guidelines, such as content, purpose, user criteria, or chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.
Eliminate outdated or unnecessary materials, destroying them or transferring them to inactive storage, according to file maintenance guidelines or legal requirements.
Answer questions about records or files.
Assign and record or stamp identification numbers or codes to index materials for filing.
Design forms related to filing systems.
Modify or improve filing systems or implement new filing systems.
What still needs a person
7 of 19 tasks
Complete general financial activities, such as processing accounts payable, reviewing invoices, collecting cash payments, or issuing receipts.
Find, retrieve, and make copies of information from files in response to requests and deliver information to authorized users.
Scan or read incoming materials to determine how and where they should be classified or filed.
Place materials into storage receptacles, such as file cabinets, boxes, bins, or drawers, according to classification and identification information.
Perform periodic inspections of materials or files to ensure correct placement, legibility, or proper condition.
Retrieve documents stored in microfilm or microfiche and place them in viewers for reading.
Operate mechanized files that rotate to bring needed records to a particular location.
Tasks via O*NET "File Clerks" (43-4071.00).
What AI can already do
17 of 19 tasks, with tools
Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
Input data, such as file numbers, new or updated information, or document information codes into computer systems to support document and information retrieval.
Gather materials to be filed from departments or employees.
Complete general financial activities, such as processing accounts payable, reviewing invoices, collecting cash payments, or issuing receipts.
Track materials removed from files to ensure that borrowed files are returned.
Find, retrieve, and make copies of information from files in response to requests and deliver information to authorized users.
Add new material to file records or create new records as necessary.
Sort or classify information according to guidelines, such as content, purpose, user criteria, or chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.
Eliminate outdated or unnecessary materials, destroying them or transferring them to inactive storage, according to file maintenance guidelines or legal requirements.
Scan or read incoming materials to determine how and where they should be classified or filed.
Answer questions about records or files.
Assign and record or stamp identification numbers or codes to index materials for filing.
Perform periodic inspections of materials or files to ensure correct placement, legibility, or proper condition.
Retrieve documents stored in microfilm or microfiche and place them in viewers for reading.
Design forms related to filing systems.
Modify or improve filing systems or implement new filing systems.
What still needs a person
2 of 19 tasks
Place materials into storage receptacles, such as file cabinets, boxes, bins, or drawers, according to classification and identification information.
Operate mechanized files that rotate to bring needed records to a particular location.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Elementary occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons