Is Administrative & Office Support a Good Job Market in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Executive Verdict

Market rating: competitive | Confidence: Medium

Chicago is still a very large office-support market, with 504,260 office and administrative support jobs in the latest metro occupation release.[1] But it is a selective one: metro unemployment was 4.8% in February 2026, Illinois administrative and office support employment was essentially flat year-over-year in April 2026, and state postings were down 1.1%.[2][3][4] The near-term opportunity is real, especially in on-site service-sector roles, but this is not a market where a generic resume or remote-only search works well.[15][9][21]

Best positioned: Candidates with recent on-site experience in customer service, Microsoft Office, data entry, and front-desk or coordination work have the best odds, especially if they target healthcare, education, hospitality, and retail employers.[15][10]

Main caution: The biggest mistake is assuming Chicago's size means easy access: less than 5% of visible local postings are remote and senior openings are much thinner than entry-level ones.[9][22]

What Changed Recently

• Chicago-area unemployment reached 4.8% in February 2026, a bit above the 4.3% national unemployment rate in April 2026.[2][23]: That does not signal collapse, but it does mean employers can be pickier than in a tighter labor market.
• Revelio Public Labor Statistics shows Illinois administrative and office support employment essentially flat year-over-year in April 2026, while active postings were down 1.1%.[3][4]: That points to replacement hiring more than expansion hiring, so networking and fast application timing matter more than waiting for a wave of new openings.
• Local visible demand is broad but structured: more than 1,400 postings appeared across more than 850 companies over the last 90 days, yet about 90% were on-site and about 75% were entry-level.[6][9][22]: There are openings, but the practical market is commuter-based and favors candidates willing to take in-person roles.
• Wells Fargo and First Brands Group, LLC each filed metro-area WARN notices tied to April 2026 layoffs, affecting 13 and 14 employees respectively, and Illinois recorded 10 WARN-eligible notices affecting about 1,121 workers in April 2026.[26][27][28]: These are not huge category-specific hits, but they reinforce a cautious, selective hiring backdrop.
• National job openings totaled 6866 thousand in March 2026, down -1.2371% year-over-year, and Indeed described early 2026 as a low-hire, low-fire environment.[24][21]: For Chicago office-support applicants, that usually means longer searches and more competition for each solid opening.

What This Means for You

Entry-Level Candidates

Difficulty: Moderate to high, because visible demand skews entry-level at about 75% of postings, but it is mostly on-site and spread across many employers, so you need volume and speed rather than a few dream applications.[22][9][8]

Best target: Target on-site administrative assistant, front desk, and office clerk openings in healthcare, education, hospitality, and retail, especially those asking for high school or equivalent rather than a bachelor's.[15][25]

Biggest mistake: Holding out for remote-only work; less than 5% of visible postings are remote.[9]

Next step: Build a one-page resume that foregrounds customer service, communication, Microsoft Office, and data entry, then apply inside the first week because typical postings stay open around 23 days.[10][16]

Mid-Career Candidates

Difficulty: High, because only about 10% of visible postings are senior and less than 5% are lead+ roles.[22]

Best target: Target enterprise employers and higher-trust office manager or executive-support openings, since about 50% of visible postings come from enterprise companies and the better-paying local salary bands cluster above the entry market.[19][11]

Biggest mistake: Applying as a generic admin professional without showing process ownership, reporting, software fluency, and AI-assisted workflow skills that are increasingly expected.[17][18]

Next step: Create two resume versions—one for office manager or coordinator work and one for executive support—and add proof of Microsoft Teams, ERP, reporting, and AI productivity use.[18]

Career Switchers

Difficulty: Moderate to high, but manageable if you can translate service or coordination work into office outcomes; customer service appears in about 40% of local postings and communication in about 30%.[10]

Best target: Aim first at customer-facing office roles in healthcare, education, hospitality, and retail, where transferable scheduling, reception, and problem-solving skills are easier to prove.[15][10]

Biggest mistake: Trying to jump straight into top-end executive assistant roles before you have office systems, calendar, and stakeholder-management evidence.

Next step: Build a small portfolio with scheduling, spreadsheet tracking, intake logs, and AI-generated meeting summaries so employers can see office readiness rather than just hearing about it.[17][18]

Salary Reality

stable pay slow advancement

Local posted salary ranges center on about $60k to $70k, with hourly roles centered on about $20 to $25. Illinois mean offered salary on new openings was about $56,020 (n=3,606) and the national mean was about $54,507 (n=158,889).[11][12][5]

Chicago looks better than the older national median benchmark of $46,320 for the broader occupation group, but most roles still sit in mainstream support pay bands rather than elite executive-support outliers.[29][11][22]

The tradeoff is access: about 90% of visible roles are on-site, about 75% are entry-level, and senior openings are comparatively scarce.[9][22]

Best-paying path: The strongest pay tends to sit in executive-support and personal-assistant tracks: Chicago entry-level personal assistant pay is quoted at $48,000-$62,000, national executive assistant ranges at $62,000–$88,000, and senior executive personal assistants at $120,000-$200,000+.[13][14]

Caution: Those headline figures are narrow-role benchmarks, not typical pay for the whole occupation, and the broader BLS national median for office and administrative support was $46,320 in May 2024.[29][13][14]

Where the Opportunities Are Concentrated

Real opportunity is spread across a long tail rather than one dominant employer. Over the last 90 days, the visible market showed more than 1,400 postings across more than 850 companies, and hiring was fragmented rather than concentrated.[6][8] The most active named employers were Domino's Pizza, Circle K Corporation, and Amerco Inc, but none appears to control the market.[7][8] About 50% of visible postings came from enterprise employers, so bigger organizations matter, but not enough to make this a winner-take-all market.[19] Industry concentration matters more than employer concentration. The most-active industries in the local posting sample were healthcare at about 25%, education at about 15%, hospitality at about 15%, healthcare services at about 15%, and retail at about 10%.[15] For job seekers, that means the best odds are usually in on-site front desk, scheduling, office coordination, and customer-facing support roles inside large service organizations—not in remote-first companies.[15][9] In healthcare, focus on general office support and front-desk work; medical billing, coding, and records roles sit in a separate track.

• Service-sector office support (high): Healthcare is about 25% of the visible local mix, with education, hospitality, and healthcare services each about 15% and retail about 10%, making these the most reliable places to find front desk, scheduling, and coordinator openings.[15]
• Enterprise field and regional offices (moderate): About 50% of visible postings come from enterprise employers, so large organizations matter disproportionately for steadier pipelines and more structured advancement.[19]
• Remote administrative work (limited): Less than 5% of visible postings are remote, so this is a very thin lane in Chicago right now.[9]
• Senior executive support (limited): Senior roles are a much smaller slice of the market: about 10% senior and less than 5% lead+.[22]

Where to focus: Focus first on on-site service-sector employers within commuting distance—especially healthcare, education, and hospitality—while separately pursuing a smaller, targeted set of enterprise executive-support or office-manager roles.[15][19][9]

Skills and Credentials Worth Pursuing

• Customer service (table stakes): Customer service appears in about 40% of visible local postings, making it the clearest core skill across receptionist, front-desk, and general office roles.[10]
• Communication (table stakes): Communication shows up in about 30% of local postings and overlaps with the judgment-heavy parts of the role that are harder to automate.[10][17]
• Microsoft Office (table stakes): Microsoft Office remains explicitly requested in about 15% of local postings, so it is still expected rather than optional.[10]
• Data entry and attention to detail (differentiator): Data entry and attention to detail each appear in about 15% of visible local postings, and they help career switchers prove office readiness quickly.[10]
• AI tools and data literacy (differentiator): About 60% of administrative jobs now expect familiarity with AI tools and data analytics, and 71% of organizations say they regularly use generative AI.[17][30]
• Microsoft Teams, ERP systems, and AI productivity suites (differentiator): Hiring managers in 2026 are prioritizing proficiency with digital collaboration tools, ERP systems, and AI-driven workflow automation.[18]
• Critical thinking and emotional intelligence (premium): Robert Half highlights critical thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and strategic decision-making as emerging skills for administrative roles.[17]

Adjacent Roles to Consider

• Patient access representative (bridge): Healthcare is the largest visible local demand pocket, and the same customer service, scheduling, intake, and front-desk strengths transfer well.[15][10]
• Project coordinator (both): Administrative support overlaps with calendar management, meeting support, documentation, follow-up, and reporting, especially inside enterprise employers.[19][10]
• Operations coordinator (both): Hospitality, retail, and other service employers value the same scheduling, problem-solving, and customer-handling skills seen in local admin postings.[15][10]
• Event coordinator (bridge): Education and hospitality are meaningful parts of the local demand mix, and admin skills map directly into scheduling, vendor coordination, and logistics.[15]

30 / 60 / 90-Day Plan

First 30 Days

• Build two resumes: one for entry or mid office support and one for coordinator or executive-support roles, using the exact local skill language around customer service, communication, Microsoft Office, data entry, problem solving, and time management.[10]
• Set your search radius around in-person work, because about 90% of visible local postings are on-site and less than 5% are remote.[9]
• Prioritize healthcare, education, hospitality, healthcare services, and retail employers, which make up most of the visible local demand.[15]
• Apply faster: treat any posting older than two weeks as late-stage, since typical active postings sit open around 23 days.[16]

Days 31-60

• Add proof of digital workflow ability: create sample meeting summaries, schedule templates, spreadsheet trackers, and AI-assisted admin workflows using Teams or similar tools.[17][18]
• Target enterprise employers and the named active hirers first, including Domino's Pizza, Circle K Corporation, and Amerco Inc, while also building a long-tail list of local service organizations.[7][19]
• If your response rate is low, widen titles to office coordinator, receptionist, admin coordinator, dispatcher, and front desk roles inside your target sectors.
• Set a realistic comp floor before interviews: local posted pay centers on about $60k to $70k annually or about $20 to $25 per hour, depending on role type.[11][12]

Days 61-90

• If you are still stuck, broaden into adjacent tracks such as patient access, project coordination, operations coordination, or event coordination, rather than waiting for remote-only admin openings.
• Rework your portfolio around outcomes—calendar complexity, intake volume, customer-handling examples, reporting accuracy, and process cleanup—instead of listing duties.
• Use every rejection to test one variable at a time: sector, commute radius, title level, and software keywords.
• For long-run resilience, keep building AI, data literacy, and judgment-heavy skills, because the BLS projects a 3% decline in office and administrative support occupations through 2034 and Robert Half says about 60% of administrative jobs now expect AI-tool familiarity.[20][17]

Methodology and Confidence

This April 2026 report was generated on May 10, 2026. Latest direct national data: May 2026. Latest direct Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN data: April 2026.

Confidence: Overall confidence: Medium. Based on 2 local evidence items and 3 proxy signals. Some conclusions require category-level inference.

Limitations

• The strongest direct metro occupation count here is the BLS employment estimate for May 2024, while the metro unemployment reading is fresher at February 2026, so this page mixes a current labor-market temperature check with an older occupation base size.[1][2]
• Some hiring direction and pay signals come from Illinois-wide administrative and office support data because that source does not publish the same occupation view for the Chicago metro; statewide conditions are a useful proxy, but they are not the same as the metro itself.[3][4][5]
• The Callings.ai job database is a partial, deduplicated sample of online postings, so it is best for reading direction, leading employer names, work arrangement, and skill patterns rather than exact market totals or precise employer share.[6][7][8][9][10]
• Representative titles like administrative assistant, receptionist, office clerk, front desk, and data entry are used to approximate this category; medical billing and coding, payroll clerks, warehouse clerks, and HR assistants sit in neighboring tracks and are not the same market.
• Several compensation figures come from posted salaries or salary guides rather than a current Chicago government wage series, so treat them as negotiation ranges and market signals, not guaranteed pay outcomes.[11][12][13][14]

References

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin — May 2024 · 2025-04 · bls.gov
2. Federal Reserve Economic Data. Unemployment Rate in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (MSA) · 2026-04 · fred.stlouisfed.org
3. Reveliolabs. Employment - Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-04 · reveliolabs.com
4. Reveliolabs. Job Openings - Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-04 · reveliolabs.com
5. Reveliolabs. Salaries - Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-04 · reveliolabs.com
6. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
7. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
8. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
9. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
10. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
11. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
12. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
13. Lighthouse-careers. Personal Assistant Salary Guide 2026: £35k-£65k/year · 2026-01 · lighthouse-careers.com
14. Bluesignal. 2026 Compensation Trends and Salary Guide - Blue Signal Search · 2025-11 · bluesignal.com
15. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
16. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
17. Robert Half. 2026 Administrative and customer support job market: In-demand roles and hiring trends · 2026-04 · roberthalf.com
18. Robert Half. 2026 Administrative and Customer Service Salaries and Compensation Trends · 2025-10 · roberthalf.com
19. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
20. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025-09 · bls.gov
21. Indeed Hiring Lab. April 2026 Jobs Report: Moving, But Not Moving Along - Indeed Hiring Lab · 2026-05 · hiringlab.org
22. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
23. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-04 · data.bls.gov
24. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics Data · 2026-03 · data.bls.gov
25. Callings.ai. Callings.ai job-market aggregation · 2026-04 · callings.ai
26. Rrstar. Companies warn Illinois workers of nearly 4,000 layoffs · 2026-03 · rrstar.com
27. Pjstar. WARN Act: Illinois layoffs impact thousands of workers at major employers · 2026-02 · pjstar.com
28. Reveliolabs. Mass-layoff Notices - Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS) · 2026-04 · reveliolabs.com
29. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Office and Administrative Support Occupations · 2025-12 · bls.gov
30. Robert Half. 2026 Administrative and Customer Support Hiring and Job Market Trends · 2026-04 · roberthalf.com