Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Machines can already do 58% of this job's tasks. By 2035 that rises to 80%. Most of the work is changing now.
Share of the work machines can do
Worldwide baseline, 2026 to 2050
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in 2026: the short answer
- Today: machines can do 58% of this job's tasks, and AI use is already seen in 45% of them.
- Forecast: machines can already do half of its tasks, and 80% by 2035, according to the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
- Size: 1,706,790 people do this job in the United States, on a median pay of $47,540 a year.
- Contact with people: it scores 76% for contact with people.
- Also called: Administrative Assistant (Admin Assistant), Administrative Clerk, Administrative Secretary (Admin Secretary), Administrative Specialist (Admin Specialist).
Updated by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit. These are worldwide baseline figures; the Workforce Starburst shows them for your country. Go deeper: How ready am I? or an executive briefing.
How the work changes, task by task
The tasks that take up most of the day, with the share of each that machines can do in 2026 (dark) and 2035 (pink). Worldwide baseline.
| Task | Share of the day | Machines can do | 2026 to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals | 11% | 85% to 87% | |
| Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material | 10% | 20% to 60% | |
| Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations | 8% | 40% to 80% | |
| Compose, type, and distribute meeting notes, routine correspondence, or reports, such as presentations or expense, statistical, or monthly reports | 8% | 72% to 92% | |
| Create, maintain, and enter information into databases | 7% | 83% to 97% | |
| Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs | 5% | 85% to 87% | |
| Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing | 5% | 83% to 97% | |
| Schedule and confirm appointments for clients, customers, or supervisors | 4% | 85% to 97% |
The skills this job runs on
The skills secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive use most, most used first.
Safer jobs nearby
Jobs with a similar skill shape where machines can do less of the work by 2035.
- Medical Records Specialists75% of tasks by 2035 · US median $51,140
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants79% of tasks by 2035 · US median $76,590
- Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks69% of tasks by 2035 · US median $35,070
- Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers72% of tasks by 2035 · US median $58,650
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Questions
When will machines do half of the tasks of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive?
Machines can already do half of its tasks. That is the worldwide baseline from the 311 Workforce Starburst, before adjusting for country.
Will AI take the job of secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
Machines can do 58% of the tasks of secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive today and 80% by 2035. Most of the routine work moves to machines, and the people in the job move to oversight, judgement and client work.
Sources and citing
Tasks and their share of the day: O*NET 31.0, occupation 43-6014.00 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0). Pay and jobs: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. AI use today: Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Scoring and forecast: the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit; after 2035 the figures extend each trend, with lower confidence. Foresight, not advice.
Cite as: 311 Institute (2026). Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive: the outlook to 2050. 311 Workforce Starburst. https://www.311institute.com/jobs/secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive/