The significant decrease in the price of office automation technology has made this technology more affordable for more companies. This has serious implications from the standpoint of future demands for secretarial and clerical workers. For this reason, a study was conducted to assess the likely impact of automation on secretarial and clerical workers and the resultant need for a model program for displaced secretarial and clerical workers. Data were collected from government agencies, management consultants, database and other literature searches, a survey of 328 office workers in Galveston, Texas, and in-depth interviews with managers from four offices of the American Life Insurance Company (three in Texas and one in Boston). It was concluded that the most immediate need with respect to office occupations education is for training to enable office workers to use automated office technology to its fullest potential. Community colleges should also take a longer-term view of the education offered in their office education programs and must prepare their students to be adaptable and resilient in the face of change. (Appendixes include an instructor's syllabus for a course in intermediate information processing, which deals with information processing applications in a networked environment; the table of contents to a series of 20 learning modules on self-directed job searches; and a sample learning module.) (MN)