Hiring Clerical Help

An increasing number of Southland companies have been seeking information on techniques to retain and attract clerical employees.

Labor specialists at one management consulting firm--the Los Angeles offices of Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman--are accustomed to getting requests for advice on work force matters such as legal liabilities and benefits. Now, they’re advising local firms on matters relating to the recruitment of clerical workers, said Joel Kelly, a partner at the company.

Kelly said the company has the expertise and the experience to give good advice. “We’ve had some (clerical) shortages from time to time,” he said.

Recent state studies predict a large number of jobs and job openings in the clerical field. There were 1.3 million clerical jobs in 1985 in California, according to the California Employment Development Department. The total will grow to about 1.6 million by 1995, an increase of about 22%, the department says.

In all, there will have been 449,080 clerical job openings during that 10-year span.

Some suppliers of temporary clerical help say more companies are luring away temporary workers with offers of full-time jobs. However, Grace Brown, who works for several temporary agencies, says she won’t accept any offers.

Brown is one of many secretaries who prefer working for companies on a temporary basis.

“I like the flexibility,” she explained. “I decide when I want to work. It allows me to do some editing for a friend who writes books, and I handle some desktop publishing . . . . I’ve had a lot of offers, but they (companies) can’t get me to leave this. It’s really a way of being self-employed.”