Word Processors and Employment

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Abstract
Far too much easy pronouncement has been made about the effects of word processors on employment. Typical is the concept of a displacement ratio representing the number of typists each word processor will replace. Far too little attention has been paid to the importance of what a word processor actually does. This paper uses published sources to consider the functions, diffusion and costs of the word processor in Australia in order to show its impact on productivity and employment in a much broader context. The paper concludes that it is probably unhelpful to see the word processor as a direct threat to jobs when its greater impact on employment will be indirect, and ultimately consequet on the role it will play in the re-shaped office sector of a developing information economy.

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