Manpower, the global leader in contingent and permanent recruitment workforce solutions and part of ManpowerGroup, on Monday released results of a survey and an infographic about the role of the contemporary administrative assistant. Among survey takers, 98 percent say administrative roles have changed, and most agree that replacing a good administrative assistant is no easy task. Manpower advises employers to target Administrative Professionals Week, April 20-26, to develop long-term recruitment and retention strategies to prevent shortages in a role that is more critical than ever to successful teams.

According to a survey of more than 500 employers, Manpower found:

• 98 percent see the best admins differently than five to 10 years ago, citing increased tech-savviness and strategic thinking, among other traits
• 71 percent view administrative assistants as integral team members/leaders
• 85 percent agree that it would not be easy to find a good administrative assistant if they needed to hire one
• Employers say a contemporary administrative assistant's role includes presentation assembly (63 percent), client communication (59 percent), vendor management (49 percent), metrics reporting (40 percent) and team engagement (40 percent)

"Our clients are running their businesses with leaner teams, and they are asking more from their administrative talent," said Jorge Perez, Manpower Senior Vice President, North America. "The evolution of the role is positive and an opportunity for people to grow in their careers, but many employers neglect to evolve their talent strategies along with the job descriptions. Employers need to be more focused than ever on talent strategy because administrative assistants with higher-level skills are more difficult to attract and retain."