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Correspondence Clerks

Compose letters or electronic correspondence in reply to requests for merchandise, damage claims, credit and other information, delinquent accounts, incorrect billings, or unsatisfactory services. Duties may include gathering data to formulate reply and preparing correspondence.

4,290 people do this job in the US. $46,800 a year.

now
81%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 85%
  • 8%
  • 7%
28%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 85% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.

How far this has come

With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 10%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 79%. Today's estimate: 81%.

0%25%50%75%100%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 1% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 1% within reacho1, December 2024: 3% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 10% within reacho3, April 2025: 37% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 46% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 57% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 57% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 63% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 64% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 79% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 81% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.

The tasks

Sorted by . 17 tasks from .

TaskKind
Compile data from records to prepare periodic reports.Done daily by most who do it. 14%1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h77%Half by now
Prepare documents and correspondence, such as damage claims, credit and billing inquiries, invoices, and service complaints.Done daily by most who do it. 13%25 min13 min to 1.3 h100%Half by now
Maintain files and control records to show correspondence activities.Done daily by most who do it. 12%17 min8 min to 38 min100%Half by now
Gather records pertinent to specific problems, review them for completeness and accuracy, and attach records to correspondence as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task.11%21 min8 min to 50 min100%Half by now
Ensure that money collected is properly recorded and secured.Done daily by most who do it.7%13 min4 min to 33 minStays with people
Compose letters in reply to correspondence concerning such items as requests for merchandise, damage claims, credit information requests, delinquent accounts, incorrect billing, or unsatisfactory service.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.6%25 min13 min to 1.1 h100%Half by now
Process orders for goods requested in correspondence.Done daily by most who do it.6%21 min8 min to 42 min100%Half by now
Read incoming correspondence to ascertain nature of writers' concerns and to determine disposition of correspondence.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task.5%7 min3 min to 17 min100%Half by now
Compile data pertinent to manufacture of special products for customers.Done daily by most who do it.5%38 min17 min to 1.7 h98%Half by now
Present clear and concise explanations of governing rules and regulations.Done daily by most who do it.4%21 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Confer with company personnel regarding feasibility of complying with writers' requests.Done daily by most who do it.4%21 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Compute costs of records furnished to requesters, and write letters to obtain payment.Done daily by most who do it.3%17 min8 min to 38 min100%Half by now

Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.

Jobs that share skills with this one

From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

Where this job works

The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).