Demise of the Secretary and Receptionist

Outsourcing of secretarial and admin work is on the increase. While we have all heard of farming out customer services jobs overseas, more and more companies are taking this approach with jobs traditionally performed by in-house secretaries, receptionists, administrators and PAs. Outsourcing has become part of mainstream business thinking.

But outsourcing of secretarial and administration jobs, even receptionist roles, doesn't necessarily mean work will disappear overseas. There are UK based agencies that cater for such temp jobs, who are seeing a year on year increase in profits.

Of course, outsourcing not only changes the way that a business is structured, and the work adminstrative and secretarial staff might undertake, but it can also change the way people work. Some administrators, secretaries or receptionists go into the office every day. But other administrative staff might work at home alone or in an agency.

However the human touch in a secretary's job will always remain important and there are organisations where secretaries can network with other people in secretarial or admin roles. Building and maintaining relationships remains just as essential in any of these temp jobs, if not more.