ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses few types of careers which office workers experienced. Some remained in office work all their lives, either achieving the small bit of security available to them or finding only personal ruin. For men who left clerical work the decision could be prompted by a desire to follow a completely new line of work or a desire for a completely new life in a new place. In addition to these career-changers there were men who did pass through clerical work on their way to riches but as will be seen, very rarely had any of them started in rags. The most significant career-changers were women, the majority of whom started as clerks with every intention of leaving clerical work to create and manage a family. The case of women is a special one because they represent half the population and because their occupational activities are so central to issues of the family and the structure of society.
