The employment and personnel files encompass limited and fragmentary documentation of Philadelphia and Reading employees in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

A small series of registers primarily lists employees who worked under the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad's Motive Power and Rolling Equipment (MP & RE) Department. They include employees from numerous P&RR shops and locations and span from 1888 to 1926. Along with the employee's name, most of the registers include such information as occupation, rate of pay and, in many cases, the dates in which an individual began and ended their employment. Additionally, most of the registers include an index of locations and shops. There is also a monthly employee check roll for those employed at the company's coal terminal at Port Richmond in Philadelphia between 1852 and 1856.

Employee time books cover Philadelphia and Reading operations throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania in the early-to-mid twentieth century.

A series of employee applications document those individuals who applied for various positions at the Philadelphia and Reading Railway's engine house in Reading, Pennsylvania. Positions range from laborer to master mechanic. There are fewer applications for positions at the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, engine house, as well as the company's shops in Palo Alto, Pennsylvania. Applications for individuals with last names beginning with the letters N through V were not included as part of the original collection. Salary record cards document various employees' monthly pay rates throughout the year. The cards generally include the employee's occupation and work location.

Lastly, a small series of special service files traces the employment history of several Motive Power & Rolling Equipment Department superintendents. The files include employment applications, biographical information, correspondence, and memos regarding the individual's various promotions through the ranks.