Office and administrative support
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.
Median pay
$45,260
Growth to 2035
−8%
declining
Openings a year
61,300
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks: 29% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
Also called: Materials Control Associate · Order Fulfillment Specialist · Receiver · Receiving Associate · Receiving Clerk · Receiving Coordinator · Shipper · Shipping Clerk
Outlook and AI
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks held 827,700 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 765,000 by 2035 (−8%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Productivity change, demand change - share decreases as continued adoption of technologies increases the ability of workers to process shipped and received packages. The share decreases are partially offset by the increased demand for shipping and receiving services due to the increased online sales.
Compare with
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- Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks vs. Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators
- Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks vs. Production, planning, and expediting clerks
- Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks vs. Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service
- Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks vs. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand
- Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks vs. Order clerk