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Data Entry Operators

ANZSCO ID 532111

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
39,100
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
55%
Female Share
83%
Average age
40
About this data

Summary

Data Entry Operators operate a keyboard to input and transfer data into computers for storage, processing and transmission.

Also known as: Data Processing Operator.

Formal qualifications are not usually required to work as a Data Entry Operator. Some workers have Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in areas such as business management, accounting, information technology or secretarial and clerical studies.

Tasks

  • Enters data and codes required to process information.

  • Retrieves, confirms and updates data in storage and keeps records of data input.

  • Takes verbatim records of proceedings in rapid shorthand using computerised equipment and shorthand-writing machines.

  • Transcribes information recorded in shorthand and on sound recording equipment, and proofreads and corrects copy.

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Lower skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
5321 Keyboard Operators
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Practical
  • Administrative
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Keyboard Operators, under the outlook section.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 55% of people employed as Data Entry Operators work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 11 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 40 hours per week in their main job. This is 4 hours less than the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.

Industries

Main industries

1
Public Administration and Safety
14.1%
2
Health Care and Social Assistance
12.0%
3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
7.5%
4
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
7.3%
5
Other industries
54.6%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

31.6% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

25.3% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

21.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

7.0% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

9.8% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.7% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.0% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.9% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Data Entry Operators All Jobs Average
NSW 31.6 31.6
VIC 25.3 25.6
QLD 21.6 20.0
SA 7.0 7.0
WA 9.8 10.8
TAS 1.7 2.0
NT 1.0 1.0
ACT 1.9 1.9


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
40
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
83%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Data Entry Operators is 40 years. This is the same as the all jobs average.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 83% of the workforce. This is 35 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Data Entry Operators All Jobs Average
15-19 3.9 5.0
20-24 11.6 9.3
25-34 23.0 22.9
35-44 21.0 22.0
45-54 21.8 21.6
55-59 9.3 9.0
60-64 6.1 6.0
65 and Over 3.3 4.2
Median Age 40 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not usually required to work as a Data Entry Operator. Some workers have Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in areas such as business management, accounting, information technology or secretarial and clerical studies.

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Business Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Data Entry Operators All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 3.9 10.1
Bachelor degree 13.9 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 12.2 11.6
Certificate III/IV 17.6 21.1
Year 12 29.3 18.1
Year 11 7.8 4.8
Year 10 and below 15.2 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Keyboard Operators who are accurate, pay attention to detail and have strong computer literacy.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 52%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 46%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 45%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 43%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 41%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 39%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 37%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 37%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 37%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 36%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 34%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 34%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 34%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 30%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 30%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 30%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 30%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 27%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 27%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 18%

    Quality control analysis

    Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 80%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 64%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 58%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 49%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 45%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 41%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 39%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 33%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 31%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 31%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 28%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 28%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 24%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 20%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 17%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 15%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 11%

    Mechanical

    Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

  • 10%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 9%

    Technical design

    Design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

  • 4%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 61%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 55%

    Wrist-finger speed

    Make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.

  • 52%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 50%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 46%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 46%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 45%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 45%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 45%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 43%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 41%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 41%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 41%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 39%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 39%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 39%

    Speed of recognition

    Quickly make sense of and organize things you can see like letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 38%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 36%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 34%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 72%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 69%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 68%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 68%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 65%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 64%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 58%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 53%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 50%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 50%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 45%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 42%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 41%

    Estimating amounts, costs and resources

    Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.

  • 38%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 35%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 34%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 34%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 31%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 30%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 23%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 62%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 48%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 38%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 14%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 62%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 52%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 40%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 29%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 29%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 24%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 93%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 92%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 91%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 90%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 87%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 86%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 84%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 82%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 77%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 75%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 74%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 73%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 71%

    Responsible for outcomes

    Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.

  • 71%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 70%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 68%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

  • 67%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 67%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 66%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 64%

    Automation of tasks

    Do tasks that are mostly automated.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 43-9021.00 - Data Entry Keyers.

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