Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CRE

Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks

Verify and maintain records on incoming and outgoing shipments involving inventory. Duties include verifying and recording incoming merchandise or material and arranging for the transportation of products. May prepare items for shipment.

Also called: Receiver, Receiving Clerk, Shipper, Shipping Clerk, Materials Control Associate, Order Fulfillment Specialist, Receiving Associate, Receiving Coordinator.

O*NET 43-5071.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $45,260; Middle half earn $38,200 to $51,570. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 75% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Examine shipment contents and compare with records, such as manifests, invoices, or orders, to verify accuracy.
Requisition and store shipping materials and supplies to maintain inventory of stock.
Prepare documents, such as work orders, bills of lading, or shipping orders, to route materials.
Pack, seal, label, or affix postage to prepare materials for shipping, using hand tools, power tools, or postage meter.
Record shipment data, such as weight, charges, space availability, damages, or discrepancies, for reporting, accounting, or recordkeeping purposes.
Confer or correspond with establishment representatives to rectify problems, such as damages, shortages, or nonconformance to specifications.
Deliver or route materials to departments using handtruck, conveyor, or sorting bins.
Contact carrier representatives to make arrangements or to issue instructions for shipping and delivery of materials.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Monitoring3.0 / 5
Writing2.6 / 5

Knowledge areas

Administrative3.4 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.1 / 5
Production and Processing3.1 / 5
Mathematics3.0 / 5
English Language3.0 / 5
Administration and Management3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic50
Investigative4
Artistic0
Social6
Enterprising35
Conventional100

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

inventory coordinator · DE Warenlagerverwalter/Warenlagerverwalterin · FR coordinateur d’inventaire/coordinatrice d’inventaire
raw materials warehouse specialist · DE Fachkraft für Rohstofflager · FR réceptionnaire de matières premières
baggage flow supervisor · DE Koordinator der Gepäckabfertigung/Koordinatorin der Gepäckabfertigung · FR gestionnaire du flux des bagages
move coordinator · DE Umzugskoordinator/Umzugskoordinatorin · FR coordinateur déménagement/coordinatrice déménagement

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Transport and distribution clerks and assistants (4134)69,500 employed
Stock control clerks and assistants (4133)79,500 employed
Weighers, graders and sorters (8144)7,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Clerical support workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Clerical support workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,035
Austria	€38,296
Germany	€37,844
Netherlands	€35,854
Sweden	€33,483
Ireland	€32,144
Italy	€29,311
France	€25,943
Spain	€22,026
Portugal	€12,602
Poland	€10,250

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.75. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-5071).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test