The Clerical Profession and the Administrative Revolution: the Rise of the Modern Workplace in Britain, 1919-1979.

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One of the most dramatic changes to working lives in twentieth century Britain was the exponential growth of the non-manual labour force. Clerical-related work was one of the fastest growing categories in this sector. The growth of modern corporations necessitated a flood of paperwork and administrative systems. New technologies - such as adding machines, Xerography and electric typewriters - brought greater speed and legibility to the workplace whilst rationalized work procedures transformed offices into nerve centres of business. Yet we know surprising little about the impact this had on the working lives of clerks. This project provides a fresh perspective on clerical workers and establishes an enhanced understanding of a particularly rich yet under-researched aspect of recent British social, economic, gender and business history.The period from 1919 to 1979 (when Thatcherism marked a new era of industrial relations and expansion of the service sector) witnessed the transformation of the office environment. It was increasingly identified as the location of the modern workplace. How did the relationship between clerical workers, their colleagues and the workplace change over time? How was this occupational group shaped by class, gender and new technologies? There was not uniformity in the nature of work or responsibilities among clerical occupations. To maximise status, financial remuneration, and to distance themselves from manual workers, an increasing number of clerks wished to redefine the professional boundaries of this occupation. However this 'professional' career was not open to a growing segment of the clerical workforce for whom an office career may have been viewed an appointment until marriage. How were tasks of clerical work divided between this routine work and a career that followed a professional or managerial route? To answer these questions this project will be the first to examine clerical workers using multiple case studies from leading companies (Midland Bank, Prudential Assurance Company, London Transport and the Post Office) that cut across a range of industries (banking, insurance, transport and postal service). It will investigate recruitment and promotional opportunities, alongside provisions for training, in order to track career pathways. The restructuring and maintenance of a sexual division of labour will contribute to the growing scholarship on gendered occupational segregation. Technology was often identified with masculinity. However the relationship between technological change and office work was more complicated and a study of the clerical profession will provide a new frame of reference for understanding the social construction of gender and technology. By examining clerical staff associations and trade unions, we can focus on the workplace as an important site of activism. Considering ways clerical workers resisted, negotiated and shaped their working environments, the research will challenge academic debates focusing exclusively on the degradation of white-collar working conditions after the First World War.The project builds on earlier part-funded research activity. A 2013 Economic History Society small research grant funded a successful pilot project on clerical activism. As Co-Investigator of the AHRC research network 'Tailored Trades: Clothes, Labour and Professional Communities', I developed research on the role of clothing in discourses of professional identity and female clerks. By working in partnership with the Bishopsgate Institute and Working Class Movement Library, the project will benefit from engaging with external users and have a public impact. Both hold extensive collections relating to clerks. The collaboration will offer a rich insight into people's daily working lives, while also exploring new, innovative approaches to the creation and application of public history.