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Aclerk is awhite-collar worker who conductsrecord keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in aretail environment. The responsibilities ofclerical workers commonly includerecord keeping, filing, staffing service counters, screening callers, and other administrative tasks.[1] InCity of Londonlivery companies, the clerk is thechief executive officer.
The wordclerk is derived from the Latinclericus meaning "cleric" or "clergyman", which is thelatinisation of theGreekκληρικός (klērikos) from a word meaning a "lot" (in the sense of drawing lots) and hence an "apportionment" or "area of land".[2][3]
The association derived from medieval courts, where writing was mainly entrusted toclergy because mostlaymen could not read. In this context, the wordclerk meant "scholar". Even today, the termclerk regular designates a type of cleric (one living life according to arule). The cognate terms in some languages, notablyKlerk in Dutch, became – at the end of the nineteenth century – restricted to a specific, fairly low rank in theadministrative hierarchy.
Clerical workers are the largest occupational group in theUnited States. In 2004, there were 3.1 million general office clerks,[4] 1.5 million office administrative supervisors and 4.1 million secretaries.[5] Clerical occupations often do not require a college degree, though some college education or 1 to 2 years in vocational programs are common qualifications. Familiarity with office equipment and certain software programs is also often required. Employers may provide clerical training.[6] In 2006, the median salary for clerks was $23,000, while the national median income for workers age 25 or older was $33,000.[7] Median salaries ranged from $22,770 for general office clerks to $34,970 for secretaries and $41,030 for administrative supervisors. Clerical workers are consideredworking class by Americansociologists such as William Thompson, Joseph Hickey or James Henslin as they perform highly routinized tasks with relatively little autonomy.[8] SociologistDennis Gilbert, argues that the white and blue collar divide has shifted to a divide between professionals, including some semi-professionals, and routinized white collar workers.[9] White collar office supervisors may be consideredlower middle class with some secretaries being located in that part of the socio-economic strata where the working and middle classes overlap.
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