Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
In short: today's best AI models could do about 59% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 68% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 32% of the time, stays with people.
Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers.
1,706,790 people do this job in the US. $47,540 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on20 h
- A person checks AI's work3 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet4 h
- Stays with people13 h
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 20 hours, 3 hours become checking its work, 4 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 13 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Use word processing and databases (about 4 h); Set up and keep filing systems (about 3 h); Enter and maintain database records (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 29%
- 39%
- 19%
- 2%
- 11%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 59% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 37%. Today's estimate: 59%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.6% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 43rd largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 8 of its 31 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.22% to 0.57% (released February and March 2025); 1.2% to 1.3% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.6% to 0.6% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.22% | 85 of 708 | 10 of 31 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.57% | 30 of 703 | 14 of 31 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 1.2% | 14 of 655 | 12 of 31 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.88% | 23 of 672 | 10 of 31 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 1.3% | 17 of 677 | 13 of 31 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.6% | 43 of 434 | 8 of 31 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.6% | 43 of 447 | 8 of 31 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 22% of this job's working time as physical work. For 22% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 22% in a purpose-built cell. 0.22 of 3, the 425th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 78%
- In a purpose-built cell 22%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
30% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Coordinate conferences and events, the conversation, 8%
- Run office equipment and arrange repairs, the hands-on work, 4%
- Manage projects and join committees, the conversation, 4%
- Set up and keep filing systems, the hands-on work, 3%
- Handle mail and answer routine letters, the hands-on work, 1%
- Supervise and train clerical staff, the conversation, 1%
What becomes checking the machine
15% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 53% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Coordinate conferences and events, costly if wrong, 12%
- Handle deposits, payments and balancing, costly if wrong, 2%
- Process payroll, costly if wrong, 1%
What to learn
- Running AI inside the business systems. About 39% of the time is work inside business systems, which a model can do only once it is connected: knowing the systems well enough to set that up and watch it.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 29% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- The conversations. About 21% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 31 tasks from . 2 have a worked example.
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinate conferences, meetings, or special events, such as luncheons or graduation ceremonies.Calls with venues and guests, bookings, and the written plan.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 20% | 1 work day1.7 h to 3.1 work days | Conversation 40%, documents 30%, systems 30% | 24%Desk part half by Jan 2027 |
| Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.Records kept in systems, with some paper files.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Ripcord robotic digitization workcell (SCARA arm, machine vision, ML) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.3 h17 min to 5 h | Systems 70%, hands-on 30% | 64%Desk part half by now |
| Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.Part document work, part entry in systems.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task.See it done: one graded attempt (passes) | 10% | 38 min8 min to 1.7 h | Documents 50%, systems 50% | 99%Half by now |
| Manage projects or contribute to committee or team work.Meetings, with the plans and notes around them.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 h50 min to 2.1 work days | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 22%Desk part half by now |
| Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.Data entry.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations.Writing and sorting messages, and keeping shared records current.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min8 min to 1.7 h | Documents 60%, systems 40% | 99%Half by now |
| Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.Hands on the machines, and a call to the repair service.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Xerox Nuvera MultiFunction Finisher (MFF) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 21 min8 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 80%, conversation 20% | Stays with people |
| Compose, type, and distribute meeting notes, routine correspondence, or reports, such as presentations or expense, statistical, or monthly reports.Pure document work.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.See it done: one graded attempt (passes with named fixes) | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Establish work procedures or schedules and keep track of the daily work of clerical staff.Writing the procedure and schedule, and checking in with staff.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 50%, conversation 30%, systems 20% | 70%Desk part half by now |
| 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.Entries in the accounts, a reconciliation, and cash taken to the bank.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, DivDat Bill Payment Kiosk (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Systems 60%, documents 20%, hands-on 20% | 80%Desk part half by now |
| Develop or maintain internal or external company Web sites.Writing and editing pages, through the site's publishing system.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 2% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 80%Half by now |
| Conduct searches to find needed information, using such sources as the Internet.Looking things up and reading.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 2% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants64% now, 71% by 2028
- Office Clerks, General56% now, 56% by 2028
- Administrative Services Managers52% now, 70% by 2028
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants59% now, 60% by 2028
- Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants84% now, 84% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers54% now, 58% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 59% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 68% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (67% to 69% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Use word processing and databases (99% of the task's time now); Set up and keep filing systems (64% of the task's time now, 70% by the end of 2028); and Enter and maintain database records (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Run office equipment and arrange repairs; Greet visitors and callers; and Make copies. Together such tasks are about 8% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are running AI inside the business systems; briefing a model and checking its drafts; and the conversations. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 30% of the working time stays with people, 15% becomes checking a model's work and 53% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.6% went to this job's tasks, the 43rd largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 8 of its 31 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 45%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 22% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 22% of the working time. Its index is 0.22 of 3. One example: Ripcord robotic digitization workcell (SCARA arm, machine vision, ML) for "set up and keep filing systems". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 31 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026. The Work Bench has 2 worked examples of its tasks: a brief, a rubric written beforehand, one attempt by an AI model and its grade.
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