Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive
SOC Code: 43-6014
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive carries a 77% AI exposure score (Very High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $46,290 and -1.6% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 1,944,000 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 77% AI exposure, Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive sits 40 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 98% of them. It is one of just 21 occupations above the 70% high-exposure line.
Career outlook score
18/100
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $46,290
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F -1.6%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 77% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in the Very High band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Slow growth (245 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
77% Higher than most higher than 98% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive's Very High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score above 70% signals that the majority of core duties are already technically automatable, workers in these roles face the steepest near-term displacement pressure.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 43-6014) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
- 2. Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
- 3. Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
- 4. Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
- 5. Perform payroll functions, such as maintaining timekeeping information and processing and submitting payroll.
- 6. Collect and deposit money into accounts, disburse funds from cash accounts to pay bills or invoices, keep records of collections and disbursements, and ensure accounts are balanced.
- 7. Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.
- 8. Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.
- 9. Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations.
- 10. Schedule and confirm appointments for clients, customers, or supervisors.
Key Skills Required
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Service Orientation
- Time Management
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
Knowledge Areas
- Administrative
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Communications and Media
- Economics and Accounting
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Public Safety and Security
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive has an AI exposure score of 77%, indicating a very high level of automation risk. Many tasks in this role involve routine data processing and pattern recognition that current AI systems can perform.
What is the job outlook for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is projected to decline by 1.6% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 1,944,000 workers.
What skills are needed for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
Key skills for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive include Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive earn?
The median annual wage for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is $46,290, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
The typical entry-level education for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Short-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
Very High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A majority of tasks in this occupation are susceptible to AI automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (77% here).
- Computer occupations, all other · AI exposure 76%
- Detectives and criminal investigators · AI exposure 76%
- Receptionists and information clerks · AI exposure 76%
- File clerks · AI exposure 79%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (-1.6% here).
- Baggage porters and bellhops · growth -1.6%
- Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters · growth -1.6%
- Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants · growth -1.6%
- Kindergarten teachers, except special education · growth -1.6%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 24 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive's numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).