I have a vague description that I would like to find more specifics about.

I have a friend who's trying to remember the kind of work his mother did in the 1940s and 1950s. He told me that she used to work with computers, back when computers were the size of a room, and that she used to read the punch cards before inserting them, or take them out, or something involving processing the punch cards that the computers used. His sister also did a similar job in the late 60s and early 70s.

His mother never went to college, and I'm not sure if she went to high school. His sister finished high school and only finished one year of college, if that gives you an idea of the job requirements. They both did this job while living in New York City. Can you help me figure out what their job title might have been, and what that work might have been like? I'm not sure if this is the right place for this kind of question, but I'm at a loss for what to google, as most results I'm finding talk about the machines themselves or the innovators and inventors, not the lower-class women who worked with them.

I would also appreciate a description of what day-to-day work would be like in this kind of environment. Thank you!