UK AI Exposure · Administrative and secretarial occupations
National government administrative occupations
National government administrative occupations undertake a variety of administrative and clerical duties in national government departments, and in local offices of national government departments.
- Employees (UK)
- 131k
- Median annual pay
- £31,363
- Exposure score ?
- 3.3/10 Low direct 3.3 · with tools 8.5
- Wage exposure
- £1.36bn
Higher exposure than 89% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
A handful of tasks in this role are touchable by AI, mostly around paperwork, scheduling and basic writing. The shape of the role stays the same - some parts just get faster.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try an LLM on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT can already do for admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the dividend.
The tasks in this role, ranked by AI exposure
Below are the real tasks O*NET records for this occupation, sorted highest exposure first. "AI can do this" means a language model can already handle the task directly. "AI can help" means an LLM can assist but not replace. "Human work" means today's AI doesn't touch it. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
8 of 20 tasks in this role are things an AI can already do today. Task list mapped via O*NET "Office Clerks, General" (43-9061.00).
Complete and mail bills, contracts, policies, invoices, or checks.
Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
Process and prepare documents, such as business or government forms and expense reports.
Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.
Prepare meeting agendas, attend meetings, and record and transcribe minutes.
Type, format, proofread, and edit correspondence and other documents, from notes or dictating machines, using computers or typewriters.
Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software.
Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
Collect, count, and disburse money, do basic bookkeeping, and complete banking transactions.
Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.
Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail.
Complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments.
Monitor and direct the work of lower-level clerks.
Inventory and order materials, supplies, and services.
Deliver messages and run errands.
Train other staff members to perform work activities, such as using computer applications.
Count, weigh, measure, or organize materials.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
These are the highest-importance tasks in this role that a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these, so they stop eating your team's time.
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Complete and mail bills, contracts, policies, invoices, or checks.
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Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
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Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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