Census records give an insight into how our occupations have changed. In 1939 Humphrey Spender was commissioned by the magazine Picture Post to photograph the people of Glasgow for a series of articles looking at life in Britain’s industrial cities. He photographed workers at Glasgow’s world-renowned shipyards and documented women at work in textile factories, washhouses and markets. Now we are more likely to work for technology companies or in retail than we are to build ships or make textiles.