Is the Secretary Dead? No Not Yours, The Profession!

Secretaries Have Undergone a Name Change, Not a Decline

Computers have revolutionised the typical office worker’s day.

Now they have to do their own typing (poor them) and with no post to fold up and send, who needs a secretary anymore? The reality is that the technological revolution has far from driven the secretarial profession to extinction as was expected.

The days of typing a document, printing it off, putting it in an envelope, addressing and stamping it, then taking to the post office (followed by opening/sorting by the receiving secretary) are largely gone. Post has been replaced by email for the mostpart, either in the office, on a Blackberry or some other smartphone/PDA. The same applies to your telephone messages. In older times, if you were out of the office, these would be collected from your secretary over the telephone.

Gone too is the quaint idea “My secretary will bring you a coffee”. Desk bound workers have legs don’t they! Besides, today’s modern version of a coffee machine can help even the most useless office barrista produce a marvellous drink.  To test the modern implications of this concept, try the following at home:  “My wife (or husband) will bring you a coffee”.  Believe me when I say this is not one that I will be trying!

There may be fewer secretarial positions advertised now, but the role has been renamed and entirely recast as P.A. or sometimes, Office Manager – a most powerful position indeed.  They now seem to run the office and, as I am advised, only the ladies are any good at multitasking!

PC frozen? – the PA solves it.  Run out of stationary and don’t know where it is? – the PA finds it.  VAT return needed? – the PA has it.  The problems are always there, but then the PA always seems to have the answers.  When we contact clients regarding their office moves at FindaLondonOffice, we almost inevitably find that the first point of contact is the PA.  You may think you are running your office, but that would be fooling yourself (unless of course, you are the PA!)