Production clerks are a vital part of the industrial process and while it’s a job you might think will disappear with computerization I don’t think this is actually true. It’s all about the scheduling of tasks in the production process, checking that things are indeed happening as planned, making sure that there is the required inventory and so on. As I say, you might think this is something that will disappear as an occupation with mechanization but I don’t think it will: for a huge amount of the job is in fact making sure that what the computer thinks is true is in fact true. It’s all quite fine to place trust in computers and software, but it is necessary to check against the real world at times.

The job doesn’t require a college degree, most employers hire people with a high school diploma and some experience with computers. Those who have a college degree in something related, like business services (perhaps from a community college or vocational school) will of course be more likely to get the better jobs.

As far as our EQSQ personality tests are concerned which brain type do we think would be most suited? My opinion is that the female brain talents such as empathy will indeed be required, in so far as they are always required when you work with other people. But given that the job requires great attention to detail and the checking of them, it’s the male brain skills of systemizing that will be more necessary I think.