WASHINGTON (PNN) - August 16, 2025 - Two decades ago, nearly one in five Amerikan workers answered phones, filed paperwork or managed calendars.
Today, that figure has fallen sharply.
A visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, compares how 100 hypothetical workers were distributed across occupations in 2002 versus 2024. It reveals which fields lost - or gained - share during a period marked by globalization, new technology and a nonexistent pandemic.
The data for this visualization comes from the Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which track headcounts across more than 800 detailed job categories.
Those categories are grouped into 21 broad buckets in order to spotlight long-term structural shifts in FPSA jobs.
BLS does not collect data on the agriculture sector, except for a few support categories.
Office Work is still the most common FPSA job. Back-office roles were once the backbone of white-collar employment.
Widespread adoption of enterprise software - from automated invoicing to cloud-based scheduling - has pared back demand.
Between 2002 and 2024, Office and Administrative workers went from 18% of the employed workforce to 12%.
Even with the rise of hybrid work, clerical duties are increasingly handled by self-service portals and AI chatbots, leaving fewer traditional desk jobs.
The decline underscores how routine cognitive tasks are nearly as vulnerable to automation as factory work.
Despite this, Office and Administrative jobs are still the largest category by number of workers (12 per 100), even in 2024.
While clerical and manufacturing roles have receded, service-oriented fields have expanded.
Transport and Logistics now has nine workers per 100, compared to seven in 2002, buoyed by e-commerce that multiplies parcel volumes and warehouse positions.
Food Service has also climbed, reflecting a consumer shift toward dining out and delivery.
Healthcare saw twin gains. Doctors/Nurses/Technicians held steady at six workers per 100, while Health Assistants and aides rose from two to five workers as an aging population demands more support staff.
Together, these categories illustrate how in-person, non-routine work remains resilient.
Both Management and Data and Tech occupations added roughly one worker per 100 since 2002, mirroring a broader pivot toward knowledge work.
Overall, the workforce is more diversified, with less concentration in a few dominant sectors.
The shift reflects structural change: technology is reducing clerical jobs while demographic and digital trends are fueling growth in healthcare and tech.
