The Disappearing Executive Assistant

Summary

Podcast Summary: WSJ Your Money Briefing

Episode: The Disappearing Executive Assistant

Date: January 21, 2020
Host: J.R. Whalen
Guest: Rachel Feinsig, Wall Street Journal Reporter

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the rapid decline of the executive assistant role in American offices. Once a secure and prestigious position, executive assistant jobs have been disappearing at a dramatic pace over the past two decades. J.R. Whalen is joined by WSJ reporter Rachel Feinsig to examine the reasons behind this shift, how it impacts the workforce (particularly women), and what has happened to those who held these roles. The episode also draws parallels between the decline of executive assistant jobs and trends in other industries like manufacturing.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Shrinking Role of the Executive Assistant

• Massive Job Losses
  • Over a million executive assistant and office support jobs have disappeared since 2000 across industries and regions in the U.S. (01:51)
• Contributing Factors: Technology and Changing Attitudes
  • Automation and new technology have eliminated many traditional tasks (e.g., managing files, answering landlines). (02:05)
  • Executives are now more likely and able to handle routine tasks like booking travel on their own.

    "Executives, they're able to do some of this stuff themselves. They’d rather do some of this stuff themselves. They can book their own flights with the click of a button." – Rachel Feinsig (02:16)

Demographic Impact

• Who Has Been Hit Hardest?
  • Women in their 50s and 60s are especially affected and finding it hard to secure new roles.

    "I talked to a lot of women in their 50s and 60s who were having trouble finding work." – Rachel Feinsig (02:36)

  • The profession has trended more towards those with college degrees, but opportunities continue to shrink.

Cultural and Professional Shifts

• Cultural Shock in New Work Environments

  • Former executive assistants face challenges adapting to open offices, digital workflows, and diminished personal connections with executives. (03:06)

    “There wouldn't be as many physical papers and filing cabinets and there wouldn't be landlines, and they were kind of a little bit lost.” – Rachel Feinsig (03:13)

• Loss of the ‘Around The Clock’ Personal Support

  • The once deeply personal and 24/7 relationship between executives and their assistants is fading.

    “That personal support was fading away. It was more of just this is your business support, and these are the hours that they work. And it's not 24/7 anymore.” – Rachel Feinsig (03:32)

• Changing Fabric of the Job

  • Executive assistants now support more executives simultaneously, leaving little time for the deeper relationships that once defined the role.

    “They were so busy doing more executive expense reports and playing kind of like with their calendars all day because they're supporting more executives than they used to, that they don't have time to learn those little preferences of their bosses or really bond with them.” – Rachel Feinsig (04:34)

Corporate Strategies and Innovations

• EY (Ernst & Young) Case Study
  • EY transitioned to a remote model for assistant services, consolidating support in five low-cost U.S. cities and encouraging attrition or buyouts for office-based assistants. (03:56)

Career Outcomes for Displaced Workers

• Many Moved to Lower-Paying, Physically Demanding Jobs
  • Displaced assistants found work in ride-sharing, retail (e.g., Trader Joe’s), and similar sectors. (04:56)

    "This is kind of the trend. This is where the labor market funnels these people." – Rachel Feinsig (05:06)

Broader Labor Market Context

• Parallels with Manufacturing Decline

  • The loss of executive assistant jobs is comparable to job erosion in manufacturing, but less publicly recognized because it's more diffuse and gradual.

    "Politicians are all over it when a plant closes... But when you look at the data, it's actually very comparable in terms of how many jobs have been lost and how this is transforming." – Rachel Feinsig (05:21)

• Future Outlook

  • The role is projected to decline an additional 20% by 2028, but won’t vanish entirely.

    "They're not going to completely go away like tomorrow. ... But it's going to be different, maybe more intensive TAs. It's just going to be different kind of work." – Rachel Feinsig (06:00)

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• “We've seen more than a million of these jobs fade away since 2000. It’s been widespread across the country, across industries...” – Rachel Feinsig (01:51)
• “Executives ... can book their own flights with the click of a button. So I think those changing attitudes are also contributing.” – Rachel Feinsig (02:16)
• “The number of people with college degrees in this profession has risen substantially since 2000.” – Rachel Feinsig (02:45)
• “There wouldn't be as many physical papers and filing cabinets ... and they were kind of a little bit lost.” – Rachel Feinsig (03:13)
• “That personal support was fading away. ... It’s not 24/7 anymore. ... For some older leaders, that is a shift.” – Rachel Feinsig (03:32)
• “They were so busy doing more executive expense reports and ... supporting more executives than they used to, that they don’t have time to ... really bond with them.” – Rachel Feinsig (04:34)
• “Some of them have been funneled into lower paying... Ride sharing, Trader Joe’s, just kind of general retail.” – Rachel Feinsig (04:56)
• “When you look at the data, it's actually very comparable [to manufacturing] in terms of how many jobs have been lost and how this is transforming.” – Rachel Feinsig (05:33)
• “The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about a 20% drop [in executive assistant roles] through 2028.” – Rachel Feinsig (06:03)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Decline in jobs and causes: 01:51–02:32
• Demographic impact: 02:36–03:06
• Cultural shift and loss of personal connection: 03:06–04:34
• Corporate restructuring example (EY): 03:49–04:16
• Where displaced workers go: 04:51–05:15
• Comparison to manufacturing decline/Future outlook: 05:15–06:20

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Tone & Style

The conversation is informative yet empathetic, capturing both the statistical realities of the declining profession and the human side of those affected. Feinsig occasionally highlights the voices and perspectives of the executive assistants she interviewed, bringing a personal dimension to the economic trend.

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Summary

The role of the executive assistant—a once prestigious, stable, and well-compensated position—has been quietly vanishing as technology and evolving office cultures make the job increasingly obsolete. The impact has been particularly profound for women in midlife whose skills and careers were tailored to the demands of a job that is now shrinking. As large companies like EY reimagine support roles and automate tasks, many displaced workers find themselves in lower-wage, physically demanding jobs, mirroring trends in manufacturing and other industries pinched by automation. The decline is expected to continue, albeit at a slower pace, altering the office landscape and the definition of support work for years to come.

Transcript

[Rachel Feinsig]

This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. But what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. [e-mail] WashingtonWise.

[J.R. Whalen]

Here's your Money briefing. I'm J.R. whalen at the Wall Street Journal in New York. Look around the office. Chances are there's one kind of co worker you see a lot less of executive assistance. The number of secretarial and office support jobs has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years. In their place, many workers are finding jobs that are more physically demanding and pay less.

[Rachel Feinsig]

They were so busy doing more executive expense reports and playing kind of like with their calendars all day because they're supporting more executives than they used to that they don't have time to learn those little preferences of their bosses or really bond with them.

[J.R. Whalen]

That's Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Feinsic. She'll explain why a job that used to offer a promising career path has been disappearing, and she'll discuss the skills that are needed for the jobs that have cropped up in its place. That's next. For decades, the executive assistant was part of the circulatory system of the office. It's often a highly sought after job, one that offers security and an attractive salary. But things have changed. More often, offices are being run without these workers. Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Feinsig is on the line with us to discuss. So, Rachel, executive assistants were at one time plentiful in the workplace?

[Rachel Feinsig]

Yeah. We've seen more than a million of these jobs fade away since 2000. It's been widespread across the country, across industries kind of in little drips and drabs quietly.

[J.R. Whalen]

What's been the main cause of the pullback on the jobs?

[Rachel Feinsig]

I would say technology and automation. I mean, it's both changed the things that there are for assistance to do. You know, there's no, like, big file boxes to be lugged from storage, fewer landlines to be picked up. But there's also this sense that I got during my reporting that executives, they're able to do some of this stuff themselves. They'd rather do some of this stuff themselves. They can book their own flights with the click of a button. So I think those changing attitudes are also contributing.

[J.R. Whalen]

Who's most impacted by the job losses we've seen since 2000?

[Rachel Feinsig]

I talked to a lot of women in their 50s and 60s who were having trouble finding work. The data also shows that the number of women with college degrees, the number of people with college degrees just happens to be a very heavily female work. The number of people with college degrees in this profession has risen substantially since 2000. So those are kind of the big demographic changes we're seeing.

[J.R. Whalen]

And for some who left or lost executive assistant jobs, they experienced a sort of culture shock when they moved to another company.

[Rachel Feinsig]

I mean, so much of this is about how work is changing. So, you know, these women would go to a new office and they would be open offices without private offices, and there wouldn't be as many physical papers and filing cabinets and there wouldn't be landlines, and they were kind of a little bit lost.

[J.R. Whalen]

And you mentioned that the people the executive assistants once worked for could do a lot of the work on their own, but that around the clock support system is not there anymore.

[Rachel Feinsig]

Yeah, that's true. That's what I heard from people, you know, at ey I was told that kind of, that personal support was fading away, that it was more of just this is your business support and these are the hours that they work. And it's not 247 anymore. And I think for some older leaders, that is a shift.

[J.R. Whalen]

Now, Rachel, how did the US division of the accounting firm EY Ernst Young transform the executive assistant role?

[Rachel Feinsig]

They moved to more of a remote model. So they ended up shedding some of their kind of more traditional executive assistants who are in the offices, usually sitting close to their bosses through attrition and also through a buyout package. And then they started ramping up staffing of these remote assistants who are in five low cost cities in the US

[J.R. Whalen]

and for many former executive assistants, even outside of Ernst and Young, they told you about not only a culture change and being in a different company, but there's a different kind of fabric to the job in the sense that it was difficult to really develop close relationships with the people that they worked for.

[Rachel Feinsig]

Yeah, I mean, I talked to assistants who said they just didn't have the time to bond like that anymore. They were so busy doing more executive expense reports and playing kind of like with their calendars all day because they're supporting more executives than they used to, that they don't have time to learn those little preferences of their bosses or really bond with them.

[J.R. Whalen]

What have you found out that many of the executive assistants who lost their jobs are doing nowadays?

[Rachel Feinsig]

Some of them have been funneled into lower paying, you know, parts of the economy. Ride sharing, Trader Joe's just kind of general retail. I heard this from the folks that I talked to, the assistants that I talked to, as well as economists, that this is kind of the trend. This is where the labor market funnels these people.

[J.R. Whalen]

So, Rachel, how do the job losses among executive assistants, how does that parallel what's going on in the manufacturing industry?

[Rachel Feinsig]

It's interesting because it's actually been basically as significant in terms of the erosion there, but we don't really hear about it as much when it comes to manufacturing. Politicians are all over it. When a plant closes, it's kind of big news. But I think because this has been so spread out and so kind of subtle, like a few women here, a few assistants there, it's just been less noticeable. But when you look at the data, it's actually very comparable in terms of how many jobs have been lost and how this is transforming.

[J.R. Whalen]

You mentioned that automation is largely to blame for the loss of the executive assistant role in many offices. And when you look into the future, it seems like a lot of these jobs are not coming back.

[Rachel Feinsig]

I think that's true. I mean, I also heard from an economist that, like, they're not going to completely go away like tomorrow. I think the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about a 20% drop through 2028. So I think there are still some things for them to do. But it's going to be different, maybe more intensive TAs. It's just going to be different kind of work.

[J.R. Whalen]

All right. That's Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Feinsig joining us. Rachel, thanks for coming on the show.

[Rachel Feinsig]

Thanks so much for having me.

[J.R. Whalen]

And that's your money briefing. I'm J.R. whelan in New York for the Wall Street Journal.

[Rachel Feinsig]

This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day, but what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. [e-mail] WashingtonWise.