By the 1920s, 15 percent of all American women had worked as operators, and AT&T was the largest employer in the United States. AT&T decided to remove the old-school telephone operators and replace them with much cheaper direct dialing. Operator jobs dropped rapidly by 50 to 80 percent. As might be expected, the job market overall adjusted quickly, as young women found other roles, like secretarial positions, that offered similar or better pay. But the women with the most experience as operators took a larger hit to their long-term earnings, as their tenure in a now extinct job did not
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Operators
