Shorthand Shortage in Secretarial and Office roles

The Greeks and Romans are known to have practised it and, until not so long ago, it was a much sought after skill in secretarial and office jobs too. But stenography or shorthand writing has all but disappeared now in secretarial and office jobs across many countries.

Due to advances in office technology, shorthand has become a vanishing skill for secretaries and receptionists. Ironically, this has happened at a time when demand for skilled stenographers is on the up for the corporate world.

As shorthand receptionist and secretarial jobs are no longer seen as lucrative, fewer people are choosing to learn this secretarial office skill. Furthermore, the office alternatives such as voice recognition software do not produce satisfactory results compared to a receptionist or secretary with the shorthand skill.

Meanwhile, engineers in Canada are working to develop a machine capable of writing shorthand to aid secretaries and receptionist roles. The machine currently manages forty words per minute, but developments are underway to double this speed. Although, even at double the speed, it does not come close to the three hundred words per minute attainable by human shorthand secretaries and office workers.