Is Administrative & Office Support a Good Job Market in the United States?

Executive Verdict

Market rating: competitive | Confidence: High

Nationally, this is a competitive market rather than a dead one. Administrative & Office Support employment is essentially flat year over year, but active postings are down 24.2%, which is much weaker than the broader U.S. postings market that is up 0.9%.[17][18] At the same time, the broader labor market is still steady: unemployment was 4.1% in August 2026 and JOLTS openings were up 2.3125% year over year, so hiring has slowed more for this category than for the economy overall.[19][20] The bigger issue is long-term: BLS still projects the broader office and administrative support group to shrink 3.5% from 2023 to 2033.[21]

Best positioned: Candidates who can pair Microsoft Office and data entry with project coordination, workflow automation, reporting, and AI-assisted admin work have the best odds right now.[3][4][13]

Main caution: The biggest mistake is treating this like a remote-friendly generalist market; about 90% of sampled postings were on-site and only about 5% were remote.[8]

What Changed Recently

• Administrative & Office Support postings nationally fell 24.2% year over year in August 2026, even as all-occupation postings rose 0.9%.[18]: That gap says this category is under more pressure than the national job market overall, so you should expect slower response rates and more competition per opening.
• Category employment stayed essentially flat year over year at about 15.7 million workers, while total nonfarm payrolls still edged up 0.3426%.[17][24]: Employers are still carrying admin staff, but they are not expanding headcount much.
• JOLTS openings rose 2.3125% year over year and the hires rate reached 3.3%, but quits slipped to 1.9% and layoffs and discharges fell to 1%.[20][25][26][27]: There are jobs to compete for, but fewer people are voluntarily leaving, which reduces replacement openings.
• Inflation ran at +3.4% year over year in August 2026 while average hourly earnings for all private workers were up +3.1%.[28][29]: If you accept a generic admin offer without specialization, your real purchasing power may barely improve.
• BLS continues to project long-run contraction: office and administrative support occupations are expected to decline 3.5% from 2023 to 2033, and secretaries and administrative assistants except legal, medical, and executive are projected to decline 1.6% from 2024 to 2034.[21][30]: The way to beat the category trend is to aim at specialized support work, not undifferentiated clerical tasks.

What This Means for You

Entry-Level Candidates

Difficulty: Moderate to high. The market offers many entry-leaning roles, but about 75% of sampled postings skew entry level and application pressure has risen for administrative-assistance jobs.[12][14]

Best target: Target on-site front desk, coordinator, receptionist, and branch-office roles in healthcare, retail, and hospitality, which make up the largest slices of the current posting mix.[1][8]

Biggest mistake: Filtering for remote-only work is the fastest way to shrink your options, because only about 5% of sampled postings were remote.[8]

Next step: Build a resume version that proves Microsoft Office, data entry, customer service, and scheduling accuracy, then prioritize newer on-site openings over stale generalist postings that have been open around 60 days.[3][22]

Mid-Career Candidates

Difficulty: Competitive but winnable if you are specialized. Hiring demand is described as steady but more selective, and 83% of administrative leaders say they pay more for specialized skills.[4]

Best target: Best targets are executive assistant, office manager, admin coordinator, and project-support roles that mix executive support, project coordination, reporting, and workflow automation.[4][13]

Biggest mistake: Do not market yourself as a generic admin professional; employers are screening for business support capabilities, not just years of service.

Next step: Add two quantified stories to your resume: one about process improvement or automation, and one about reporting, calendar, or stakeholder coordination that saved time or reduced errors.[4][13]

Career Switchers

Difficulty: High unless your prior work already maps to office workflows. The easiest switches come from customer-facing service roles and multi-site operations where documentation, scheduling, and issue handling already matter.[1][3]

Best target: Aim for office roles with lower formal barriers first; among postings that state an education requirement, high school diploma or equivalent is the most common baseline.[23]

Biggest mistake: Do not assume medical billing, payroll, or HR assistant jobs use the same keywords or screening rules as general admin support.

Next step: Translate your background into office language such as CRM updates, intake, appointment setting, records accuracy, cash reconciliation, and follow-up, and learn one CRM or ERP system before scaling applications.[14][15]

Salary Reality

moderate pay broad access

Government wage data puts the broad office and administrative support group at a $47,450 median and $51,560 mean in 2025, with the 75th percentile at $60,060 and the 90th percentile at $76,170.[31][32][33][34] Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants sit much higher, with a $79,140 mean annual wage and a $36.82 median hourly wage.[35] Proxy hiring data points to the middle of the market: Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows mean offered salary on new openings around $52,111 in August 2026, and the Callings.ai job database shows posted ranges centered on about $50k to $65k.[36][37]

This is mostly a moderate-pay category nationally. The offered-salary signal for Administrative & Office Support openings is below the all-occupation new-posting mean of about $69,479, so higher pay usually comes from specialization, sector choice, or senior executive-support work rather than from the title alone.[36]

The main tradeoff is access versus ceiling: many roles do not require a bachelor's degree, but the occupation is long-run shrinking and current demand is more selective than broad-market hiring.[23][21][4]

Best-paying path: The strongest pay tends to sit in executive assistant and executive-admin tracks, especially inside higher-paying sectors such as information, financial activities, and professional and business services, where average hourly earnings across the sector were $55.58, $49.81, and $45.81 in August 2026.[35][38][39][40]

Caution: Do not overread the top end. The $76,170 90th-percentile figure and the executive-assistant wage data describe the upper slice, while hourly postings in the current sample still center on about $18 to $20 an hour.[34][35][41]

Where the Opportunities Are Concentrated

Real opportunity is concentrated less in a single employer and more in a few industry lanes. In the current posting sample, healthcare accounts for about 30% of Administrative & Office Support openings, followed by retail at about 20%, hospitality at about 15%, insurance at about 10%, and financial services at about 10%.[1] That mix matters because private education and health services employment was up 2.0% year over year nationally in August 2026, while financial activities employment was down 1.0% and information employment was down 3.9%.[2][9][10] That makes healthcare front-office and service-heavy office roles more practical targets than betting only on corporate back-office jobs in softer white-collar sectors. The employer base is also fragmented rather than dominated by a few giants, so the search works better when you build a wide list across many mid-sized and multi-site employers instead of waiting for one marquee company.[7] Among named heavy users of this talent in the sample are Circle K, U-Haul International, H & R Block, Inc., Hallbartsamhallsbyggande, and Planet Fitness, Inc.[11] The other concentration pattern is job design. About 75% of sampled openings skew entry level, and about 90% are on-site, so candidates who can commute and handle customer-facing or branch-office work have a clear advantage over remote-only applicants.[12][8]

• Healthcare front office and care-setting administration (high): This is the largest current industry lane at about 30% of sampled postings, and private education and health services employment was up 2.0% year over year nationally in August 2026.[1][2]
• Retail, hospitality, and other multi-site service businesses (high): Retail makes up about 20% of sampled postings and hospitality about 15%, which supports roles tied to front desk, branch support, scheduling, and customer-facing office work.[1][8]
• Executive support and project-coordination tracks (moderate): These roles are less common than general office jobs, but employers are explicitly rewarding executive support, project coordination, and workflow automation with more selective hiring and stronger starting pay for specialized candidates.[4]
• Corporate back-office roles in tech-leaning and finance-heavy settings (limited): These roles can pay better, but the surrounding sector backdrop is softer: information employment was down 3.9% year over year and financial activities employment was down 1.0%.[10][9]

Where to focus: Focus first on on-site healthcare and service-business roles, then on specialized executive-support or coordinator jobs where you can show automation, reporting, and stakeholder-management skills.[1][8][4]

Skills and Credentials Worth Pursuing

• Microsoft Office and Excel (table stakes): Microsoft Office is the most-requested software cluster in current postings, and Excel appears repeatedly in the skill list.[3]
• Data entry and records accuracy (table stakes): Data entry shows up in about 15% of sampled postings, making accuracy a basic screening tool for many admin roles.[3]
• Customer service and front-desk issue handling (differentiator): Customer service appears in about 10% of sampled postings, and the heaviest industry lanes are healthcare, retail, and hospitality, where front-desk judgment matters.[3][1]
• Workflow automation (differentiator): Employers are rewarding workflow automation and technology-enabled administrative work, and Robert Half says specialized skills command higher starting pay.[4]
• Project coordination and executive support (premium): Project coordination and executive support are two of the clearest ways to move beyond generic clerical work in 2026.[4]
• AI-assisted workflow and prompt writing (differentiator): AI and automation proficiency, plus writing effective AI prompts, are emerging differentiators for administrative assistants in 2026.[13][4]
• CRM or ERP systems (differentiator): CRM systems and ERP platforms such as SAP or Oracle NetSuite are cited as valuable technology competencies for administrative support roles.[14][15]
• Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) (differentiator): The CAP is described as the highest-value cross-industry credential for administrative assistants.[16]

Adjacent Roles to Consider

• Patient access or healthcare support administration (both): Healthcare is the biggest current industry lane in the admin posting mix at about 30%, and private education and health services employment is up 2.0% year over year nationally.[1][2]
• Accounts receivable or payroll support (pivot): If your admin background is heavy on Excel, reconciliation, and data accuracy, it can translate into finance-support work; Excel and data entry are already common admin asks.[3]
• HR or recruiting coordinator (both): Calendar management, documentation, follow-up, and stakeholder communication overlap strongly with admin coordination work.[4]
• Project coordinator (bridge): Project coordination is one of the clearest specialization paths employers are calling out for administrative talent in 2026.[4]

30 / 60 / 90-Day Plan

First 30 Days

• Split your resume into two versions: one for front-office and service roles, and one for executive-support and coordinator roles.
• Create a one-page proof sheet showing calendar management, data accuracy, customer handling, and one process you improved with Excel or automation.
• Refresh Microsoft Office and Excel, then learn one CRM or ERP workflow well enough to describe it clearly in an interview.
• Stop applying remote-first; build a target list of commuting-distance employers in healthcare, retail, insurance, and hospitality.

Days 31-60

• Build a weekly application rhythm around freshly posted roles and follow up with a tailored note that mentions the exact office systems, scheduling load, and customer volume you can handle.
• Add one AI-assisted workflow example to your resume and LinkedIn, such as email triage, meeting summaries, or document drafting with human review.
• If you have at least a few years of experience, start CAP exam prep or another recognized admin credential instead of sending more generic applications.[16]
• Include temp-to-hire and contract openings in your search; many employers plan to add contract or temporary talent in 2026.[4]

Days 61-90

• If interviews remain thin, shift a meaningful share of your search toward patient access, recruiting coordination, project coordination, or finance-support roles.
• Turn two recurring tasks from past work into mini case studies with before-and-after results that you can send after interviews.
• Aim at specialized lanes such as executive support, reporting, office operations, or workflow ownership rather than broad administrative assistant searches.
• Review offers against commute, schedule rigidity, and training upside, because on-site expectations are much stricter here than many candidates assume.

Methodology and Confidence

This August 2026 report was generated on October 04, 2026. Latest direct national data: September 2026. Some items are proxy evidence; latest proxy data: October 2026.

Confidence: Overall confidence: High. The report is anchored in current national labor-market series and recent occupation-specific signals, with proxy evidence used mainly to sharpen where demand is concentrated.

Limitations

• National figures average over very different metro markets, and the metro reports for this category show how far conditions can differ from the U.S. average.
• Some of the freshest market signals here are monthly August 2026 readings, but occupation wage data is annual and mostly reflects 2025, so pay and role mix can move before official occupation tables catch up.
• Administrative & Office Support is a broad family that includes titles such as receptionist, office clerk, office manager, customer-facing office support, and executive assistant, and those sub-roles do not all move in the same direction.
• The Callings.ai job database is a partial, deduplicated sample of online postings, so direction of demand, leading employer names, and skill patterns are more reliable than exact counts or exact shares.
• Several monthly payroll and turnover figures are early readings that can be revised, so very small year-over-year changes should be read as directional rather than final.

References

1. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
2. Federal Reserve Economic Data. All Employees, Private Education and Health Services · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
3. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
4. Robert Half. Administrative career paths, skills and job search strategies for 2026 · 2026-06 · roberthalf.com
5. Reveliolabs. Mass-layoff Notices — Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-08 · reveliolabs.com
6. Edd. Edd - warn_notice_layoff · 2026-08 · edd.ca.gov
7. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
8. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
9. Federal Reserve Economic Data. All Employees, Financial Activities · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
10. Federal Reserve Economic Data. All Employees, Information · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
11. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
12. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
13. Aijobimpactcalculator. Will AI Replace Administrative Assistants? Risk Score, Tasks, Growth (2026) · 2026-07 · aijobimpactcalculator.com
14. Rothstaffing. Hiring Trends for Administrative and Customer Service Talent in 2026 · 2026-01 · rothstaffing.com
15. Abmcollege. Top 13 Administrative Assistant Skills in 2026 | ABM College · 2026-04 · abmcollege.com
16. Resumly. Administrative Assistant Certifications: The Ones Worth It in 2026 (Ranked) · 2026-06 · resumly.ai
17. Reveliolabs. Employment — Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-08 · reveliolabs.com
18. Reveliolabs. Job Openings — Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-08 · reveliolabs.com
19. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
20. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
21. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics - bls_10_year_growth_projection · 2024-08 · bls.gov
22. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
23. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
24. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
25. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
26. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
27. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-08 · data.bls.gov
28. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
29. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
30. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Artificial intelligence, information technology, and employment, 2024–34 : The Economics Daily : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2026-07 · bls.gov
31. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · data.bls.gov
32. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · data.bls.gov
33. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · data.bls.gov
34. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · data.bls.gov
35. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey by occupation, May 2025 - 2025 A01 Results · 2026-05 · bls.gov
36. Reveliolabs. Salaries — Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-08 · reveliolabs.com
37. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai
38. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Information · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
39. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Financial Activities · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
40. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Professional and Business Services · 2026-08 · fred.stlouisfed.org
41. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-08 · callings.ai

Administrative & Office Support job market by metro, August 2026

The latest monthly report for each metro. Postings and pay come from the Callings.ai job database (active postings over the last 90 days), hedged because the sample is partial.