Material Recording Clerks

Summary

Some clerks take inventory by counting items in a store.

Quick Facts: Material Recording Clerks
2010 Median Pay	$24,100 per year $11.59 per hour
Entry-Level Education	See How to Become One
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	See How to Become One
Number of Jobs, 2010	2,812,900
Job Outlook, 2010-20	2% (Little or no change)
Employment Change, 2010-20	48,700

What Material Recording Clerks Do

Material recording clerks keep track of information to keep businesses and supply chains on schedule. They ensure proper scheduling, recordkeeping, and inventory control.

Work Environment

Most material recording clerks spend significant time in warehouses. Many have standard Monday-through-Friday shifts, although some work nights and weekends or holidays when large shipments arrive.

How to Become a Material Recording Clerk

Most workers are trained on the job in 1 to 6 months and must usually have a high school diploma.

Pay

The median annual wage for material recording clerks was $24,100 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of material recording clerks is projected to grow 2 percent from 2010 to 2020, experiencing little or no change. Radiofrequency identification tags and automation are expected to enable fewer clerks to do the same amount of work that previously required more workers.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of material recording clerks with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about material recording clerks by contacting these additional resources.

What Material Recording Clerks Do About this section

Shipping clerks make sure packages arrive on time.

Material recording clerks keep track of information to keep businesses and supply chains on schedule. They ensure proper scheduling, recordkeeping, and inventory control.  

Duties

Material recording clerks typically do the following:

• Keep records of items shipped, received, or transferred to another location
• Compile reports on various aspects of changes in production or inventory
• Find, sort, or move goods between different parts of the business
• Check records for accuracy

As warehouses increase their use of automation and computers, clerks will become more adept at using technology. Many clerks use tablets or hand-held computers to keep track of inventory. New sensors and tags enable these computers to automatically detect when and where products are moved, making clerks’ jobs more efficient.

Production, planning, and expediting clerks ease the flow of information, work, and materials within or among offices in a business. They compile reports on the progress of work and on any production problems that arise. These clerks set workers’ schedules, estimate costs, keep track of materials, and write special orders for new materials. Expediting clerks are in contact with vendors to ensure that supplies and equipment are shipped on time. They also may inspect the quality of products.

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks keep track of and record all outgoing and incoming shipments and ensure that they have been filled correctly. Many of these clerks scan barcodes with hand-held devices or use radiofrequency identification (RFID) scanners to keep track of inventory. They also compute freight costs and prepare invoices for other parts of the organization. Some of these clerks move goods from the warehouse to the loading dock.

Stock clerks and order fillers receive, unpack, and track merchandise. They retrieve customer orders and transport products from a warehouse to shelves in stores. They keep a record of all items that enter or leave the stockroom and inspect for damaged goods. These clerks also use hand-held scanners to keep track of merchandise.

Material and product inspectors weigh, measure, check sample, and keep accurate records on materials, supplies, and other equipment that enters a warehouse. They verify the quantity and quality of items they are assigned, checking for defects and recording what they find. To gather information, they use scales, counting devices, and calculators. Some clerks also prepare reports on warehouse inventory levels.

Work Environment About this section

Many stock clerks work in grocery stores.

Most material recording clerks spend significant time in warehouses.

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks; production, planning, and expediting clerks; and material inspectors usually work in an office inside a warehouse or manufacturing plant.

Production clerks spend more of their time in their office on the computer or phone, setting up schedules or writing production reports.

Although shipping clerks and material inspectors prepare reports in an office, too, they also spend time in the warehouse, where they sometimes handle packages or automatic equipment such as conveyor systems.

Stock clerks and order fillers usually work in retail settings and sometimes help customers. They move items from the back room to the store’s shelves, a job that can involve frequent bending and lifting. However, automated devices usually transport heavy items.

Production, planning, and expediting clerks held about 271,000 jobs in 2010, most commonly in the following industries:

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks held about 687,600 jobs in 2010, most commonly in the following industries: 

Stock clerks and order fillers held about 1.8 million jobs in 2010, most commonly in the following industries:

Material and product inspectors held about 66,900 jobs in 2010, most commonly in the following industries:

Work Schedules

Production, planning, and expediting clerks; shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks; and material inspectors usually work full time. Many have standard Monday-through-Friday shifts, although some work nights and weekends or holidays when large shipments arrive.

About one-third of stock clerks and order fillers are part-time employees. Evening and weekend work is common because these clerks work when retail stores are open. They sometimes work overnight shifts when large shipments arrive or it is time to take inventory.

How to Become a Material Recording Clerk About this section

Planning clerks write reports on a computer.

Most workers are trained on the job in 1 to 6 months and must usually have a high school diploma.

Education

Most material recording clerks must have a high school diploma or equivalent. Production, planning, and expediting clerks need to have some basic computer skills. Candidates who have taken some business classes may be given preference over those who haven’t.

Stock clerks and order fillers generally are not required to have a high school diploma.

Training

Material recording clerks usually learn their work on the job. Training for stock clerks and material inspectors may last less than a month. For shipping and production clerks, it can take up to 6 months. The more complex automatic equipment and sensors that are used in warehouses, the longer on-the-job training can take.

Typically, a supervisor or more experienced worker trains new clerks.

Clerks first learn to count stock and mark inventory and then move onto more difficult tasks, such as recordkeeping. Production clerks need to learn how their company operates before they can write production and work schedules.

Advancement

With additional training or education, material recording clerks can advance to other similar positions within their firm, such as purchasing agent. For more information, see the profile on purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents.

Important Qualities

Clerical skills. Typing, filing, and recordkeeping are common tasks for most material recording clerks.

Communication skills. Production, planning, and expediting clerks are often in contact with suppliers, vendors, and production managers and need to be able to communicate the firm’s scheduling needs effectively.

Customer-service skills. Stock clerks sometimes interact with customers in retail stores. They may have to get the item the customer is looking for from the storeroom.

Detail oriented. Material inspectors check items for defects, some of which are small and difficult to spot.

Pay About this section

The median annual wage for material recording clerks was $24,100 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,860 and the top 10 percent earned more than $43,340.

The median wages for material recording clerk occupations in May 2010 were the following:

• $42,220 for production, planning, and expediting clerks
• $28,370 for shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks
• $27,170 for material and product inspectors
• $21,290 for stock clerks and order fillers

Production, planning, and expediting clerks; shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks; and material inspectors usually work full time. Many have standard Monday-through-Friday shifts, although some work nights and weekends or holidays when large shipments arrive or inventory is taken.

About one-third of stock clerks and order fillers are part-time employees. Evening and weekend work is common because these clerks work when retail stores are open. They sometimes work overnight shifts when large shipments arrive or it is time to take inventory.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks is projected to grow 0 percent from 2010 to 2020, and employment of stock clerks and order fillers is projected to grow 1 percent during the same period, both experiencing little or no change.

An expected increase in the use of radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags will enhance the productivity of these two occupations. RFID tags allow stock clerks to locate an item or count inventory much faster than they previously could. In warehouses, shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks will be affected by RFID tags as well as increased automation, because both devices should make it easier to keep track of material. The productivity increases resulting from these technologies will allow fewer clerks to do the same amount of work that previously required more workers.

Employment of material and product inspectors is projected to grow 12 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. RFID tags are expected to increase accuracy in shipping, reducing the number of times a product needs to be weighed, checked, or measured, and in turn reducing the demand for material inspectors. In addition, certain types of automation may do some of the job functions of these clerks.

Employment of production, planning, and expediting clerks is projected to grow 7 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. These clerks are less likely to be affected by RFID or automation because they spend more time doing office work than shipping or stock clerks do. However, production clerks are employed mostly by slow-growing or declining manufacturing industries, which will limit their growth.

Job Prospects

There should be favorable job opportunities for material recording clerks because of the need to replace workers who leave the occupation. The increase in RFID and other sensors will enable clerks who are more comfortable with computers to have better job prospects.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For more information about material recording clerks, visit

Material Handling Industry of America

The Warehousing Education and Research Council