Wage Earning and Education Part 7

A GENERAL VIEW OF COMMERCIAL WORK

All commercial occupations may be roughly divided into two cla.s.ses: those which have to do with administrative, merchandising, or productive work, and those which carry on the clerical routine which the others necessitate. The first cla.s.s of occupations may be designated by the term "administrative work" and the second by "clerical work." A varying relation exists between the two which depends chiefly upon the kind of business represented. In some kinds clerical work is the stepping stone by which administrative work is reached; in others employment in clerical work side-tracks away from the administrative work.

There is, of course, a future of promotion within the limits of clerical work without reference to its relation to administrative work. The practical aspect of it is, in most kinds of business, that the subordinate clerical positions far outnumber the chief ones.

Promotion of any sort depends largely upon individual capacity; but this general distinction may be made between promotion in clerical work and in administrative work; in the clerical field it tends to be automatic but limited; in administrative work it comes more often through a worker's initiative or individuality than through automatic progression and it has no arbitrary limits.

Obviously one kind of person will be adapted to an administrative career; another to a clerical one. Even a beginner in wage earning might be able to cla.s.sify himself on a basis like this; yet it is not essential, for in many cases it is possible that his first positions recognize this choice. He needs fundamental experience in business methods whatever he is going to do; and for most administrative positions he needs maturity. He can achieve both by serving an apprenticeship in some form of clerical work. The important things for him in the early part of his career are to understand the distinction between the two cla.s.ses of occupations; to sense the relation he holds to the business as a whole; and to act intelligently in the matter of making a change.

BOOKKEEPING

The bookkeeping which modern business, except in the small establishment, demands of young workers is certainly not the journal and ledger bookkeeping of the commercial schools. A modern office organization may have in its bookkeeping department of 20 persons only one "bookkeeper." This person is responsible for the system and he supervises the keeping of records and the preparation of statements. A minority of his a.s.sistants will need to be able to distinguish debits from credits; the rest will be occupied in making simple entries or in posting, in verifying and checking, or in finding totals with the aid of machines. The bookkeeping systems employed show wide variation, not only in different kinds of business, but in different establishments in the same kinds of business. Many firms are using a loose-leaf system; some use ledgers; and others have a system of record keeping which calls for neither of these devices. Bookkeeping work, especially in the positions held by girls, is frequently combined with comptometer or adding machine work, with typing, billing, filing, or statistical work; but rarely, except in the small office, are bookkeeping and stenography--the Siamese Twins of traditional and commercial training--found linked together.

STENOGRAPHY

Stenography is used throughout business chiefly in correspondence; to a less extent for report and statement work, for legal work, and for printer's copy. The stenographer in any business office, more than other clerical workers, is supposed to look after a variety of unorganized details including the use of office appliances, the filing of letters, and sometimes dealing with patrons or visitors in the absence of the employer. She is more important to the employer in his personal business relations than any other employee, except in the case of those few employers who have private secretaries.

CLERKS' POSITIONS

In the case of large corporations, which are by far the largest employers of clerks, this work has been standardized to a marked degree. The organization of the office work of the telegraph, telephone, and express companies, the railroads, and the occasional large wholesale company in Cleveland is a nearly exact duplication of that of other district or division offices controlled by these companies in other cities. The same is true of the Civil Service.

Whatever effects standardization may have upon opportunity, it obviously makes for definiteness in regard to training requirements.

All the positions are graded on the basis of experience and responsibility and a logical line of promotion from one to another has been worked out.

The report contains detailed studies of different kinds of clerical work in the offices of transportation and public utility corporations, retail and wholesale stores, manufacturing establishments, banks, the civil service, and small offices employing relatively few people. In each of these such matters as character of the work, opportunities for advancement, kind of training needed and special qualifications are taken up.

WAGES AND REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT

Stated briefly the conclusions of the report with respect to wages and regularity of employment in office positions are as follows:

The wage opportunities for clerical workers, especially men, lie in business positions outside the limits of clerical work. Men clerical workers average about the same pay as salesmen and more pay than industrial workers. Women clerical workers receive more than either saleswomen or industrial workers. Employment is much more regular in clerical work than it is in salesmanship or industrial work. For men clerical workers the wage opportunity is better in manufacturing and trade than in some kinds of transportation business. For women it is better in manufacturing and transportation than it is in trade. Men's wages tend to be higher than women's in all branches of clerical work.

Among the clerical positions, bookkeeping shows the highest wage average for men; clerks' positions show the lowest. Stenography shows the highest for women; machine work the lowest. Men bookkeepers show their best wage average in the wholesale business, clerks in transportation, and stenographers in manufacturing. The small office gives better wage opportunity to women bookkeepers and men stenographers; the large office favors women stenographers and men clerks.

For boys, there is some indication that advanced education and commercial training, in their present status, are less closely related to high wages than are personal qualities and experience. For girls, the combination of high school education and business training is the best preparation for wage advancement. A general high school education and usually, business training, are essential to the a.s.surance of even a living wage. Business training based upon less than high school education is almost futile.

THE PROBLEM OF TRAINING

Six chapters of the report are devoted to a consideration of the needs and possibilities of training. The work now being done in the public schools of the city is discussed in detail, with suggestions for a better adaptation of the courses of study and methods and content of instruction to the needs of boys and girls who wish to prepare themselves to enter clerical occupations. The observations on training for such work may be summarized as follows:

Commercial training should be open to all students whom commercial subjects and methods can serve best; but graduation should depend upon a high standard of efficiency.

Statistics show that commercial training is not to be looked upon, in a wholesale way, as a successful means of taking care of backward academic students.

Commercial students' need for cultural and other supplementary education may be even greater than that of academic students.

The graduation rate of commercial students in public schools has been increased since the organization of a separate commercial high school and the number of students entering has been decreased.

Commercial high schools receive a grade of children who are about medium in scholarship and normal in age.

Commercial and academic high school teachers are similar in scholastic preparation and in the salaries they are paid.

The Cleveland Normal School does not prepare definitely for the teaching of commercial subjects. Commercial teachers are nominally supervised by the district superintendents.

Public schools receive 29 per cent of the city's day commercial students. The private schools receive a few more than the sum of public, parochial, and philanthropic schools.

Public schools receive 22 per cent of the city's night commercial students. The private schools receive more than twice as many as the public and philanthropic schools. There are no night commercial cla.s.ses in parochial schools.

The length of the day course in most private schools is eight months or less; in public schools it is four years.

The public school, if it believes in longer preparation for commercial work than most private schools give, should demonstrate the reason to parents and children.

Training for boys and girls should be different in content and in emphasis.

The usual course of study in commercial schools is suitable for girls and unsuitable for boys.

A girl needs, chiefly, specific training in some one line of work. She has a choice among stenography, bookkeeping, and machine operating.

A boy needs, chiefly, general education putting emphasis on writing, figuring, and spelling; general information; and the development of certain qualities and standards.

For students electing to go into commercial work, general education may be taught more effectively through the medium of commercial subjects than through academic ones.

Boys' training looks forward to both clerical work and business administration; but as clerical work is a preparation for business and is likely to occupy the first few years of wage earning, training should aim especially to meet the needs of clerical positions.

Clerical positions for boys cover a variety of work which cannot be definitely antic.i.p.ated and cannot therefore be specifically trained for. But certain fundamental needs are common to all.

Most of the specialized training for boys should be given in night continuation cla.s.ses.

Girl stenographers need a full high school course for its educational value and for maturity. Girls going into other clerical positions can qualify with a year or two less of education; but immaturity in any case puts them at a disadvantage.

Boys' training, for those who cannot remain in school, should be compressed into fewer than four years. Immaturity in the case of boys is not a great disadvantage.

Bookkeeping has general value in the information it gives about business methods and for its drill in accuracy. To some extent it may aid in the development of reasoning.

Much of the bookkeeping in actual use in business consists in making entries of one kind only and in checking and verifying. Understanding of debit and credit, posting, and trial balance, is the maximum practical need of the younger workers.

Penmanship demands compactness, legibility, neatness, and ease in writing; also, the correct writing and placing of figures.

The chief demand of business in arithmetic is for fundamental operations--adding and multiplying--also for ability to make calculations and to verify results mentally.

Undergraduate experience in school or business offices may be a valuable method of acquainting students with office practice and routine and with business organization and business standards.