...According to the study, in the 1920s, one prominent means of entering the workforce for young people – particularly white, American-born women – was working as a phone operator. At its peak, this job accounted for 4% of the 3 million working women in this demographic, roughly comparable to our current cohort of cashiers, office workers, or customer service representatives. In 1920, phone operation in its industry “was the third‐largest occupation‐industry pair for white, American‐born women younger than 25 and the single largest for those under 20.” AT&T became the largest general employer in the country, employing 1% of the workforce.
Needless to say, many families across the country relied on jobs as phone operators. However, over time, AT&T began to use automated systems that made operator jobs obsolete. By 1940, 60% of telephone interactions through AT&T were direct dial, not through an operator.
With new data found through genealogies (taking into account female name changes due to marriages), among other things, the Cato study shows how this innovation affected that workforce. The decline in phone operation employment for the aforementioned demographic (young, white, American-born women) was quick and permanent, with 50% to 80% of jobs lost. This was around 2% of the employment for that group that suddenly went away. The automation shock was large by all measures.
However, the study finds that this had little to no long-term effect. Future employment was sustained, and there was no major substitution into child-bearing or marriage. Instead, other occupations like secretaries and restaurant workers became more prominent. On average, women aged 19-22 took jobs of roughly the same salary, while those 16-18 were more likely to take lower-paying jobs....
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