Angélique Walsh, 30, has just found a new job as an executive secretary at Malpac, a financial services company. Her former position at Michigan-based connected vehicle platform Autonomic had just been shed. “A number of tasks have disappearedshe says. The artificial intelligence programs ChatGPT, Calendly… replace us. » And the competition for the remaining positions is brutal. “Where I applied, we were 5,000 applicants for one offer”remember.
With his nine years of experience, he ended up winning. But we had to adapt to the new conditions of the profession. He doesn’t have an exclusive relationship with just one leader, but works with two bosses and sometimes has to help the whole team.
The image of the loyal 60s executive secretary, caricatured in the TV series mad Men, He got confused. The one who knew his boss better than his wife is gone. The person who holds this position reports to several directors today. And it’s becoming increasingly rare. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American INSEE, their number decreased by 63% from 2000 to 2021, falling to 508,000 people. And it is expected to decline further by 2031. The statistics agency forecasts a 20.2% drop in the number of secretaries and executive administrative assistants, or 102,600 job losses from 2021 to 2031.
Cost reductions
Eliza Forsythe, a professor at the School of Labor and Employment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has followed the evolution of pink collarthose called “pink collar”because the profession is 70% female.
From now on, “activities are automatedshe says. New executives manage their own travel and correspondence. » And the executive secretaries still in office have fewer administrative functions. “They went to higher educationadds M.Myself Forsythe. And their missions are more complex, more intellectual. »
When a CFO tries to cut costs, “the assistant is a popular target”assures Ash Wendt, president of the recruitment agency Cowen Partners Executive Search. “In the old configuration, the leader’s prestige was tied to the size of his team and the devotion of his private secretary. » But today, the assistant we share among several executives has been sent back to the open space, “in a small space” with the rest of the common people. Jerry Maginnis, a former partner at KPMG, now an author and consultant, watched the company evolve: “Young executives are self-sufficient, they grew up with technologyremarks. For the maintenance of their calendar and meticulous daily tasks, they no longer need an assistant. »
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