Tightened Pink-Collar Ranks Call for High-Tech Savvy : Office: Computer advances are cutting the demand for O.C. secretaries. Those who survive will be technologically adept.
If an Orange County secretary were asked to take a letter on Professional Secretaries Day today regarding the future of the profession, it might start like this: Dr secys, thr r going 2 b ls of u in cming yrs b-cuz yng execs r lrning 2 type 2.
Translation: The pink-collar ranks are beginning to thin because young managers are increasingly computer literate and are more inclined to write their own letters than dictate them to someone else. Other technological advances, like voice mail and electronic messaging, are also cutting down on the need for secretaries.
In Orange County, demand for secretaries is expected to increase by 5.4% through 1998, less than the 5.7% growth rate projected for all jobs, according to the state Employment Development Department. The difference is even more dramatic when weighed against the 7.6% growth expected in government and 9.6% gain anticipated in the services sector, both of which have historically employed large numbers of secretaries.
“As we get into the computer age, people will do their own word processing,” said Eleanor Jordan, the EDD’s labor market analyst for Orange County. “Office automation and technical change will bring slow growth in some occupations and an actual decline in others.”
What is happening in Orange County reflects a nationwide phenomenon. Harvard labor economist James Medoff reports that secretarial ranks nationwide shrank 8% from 1983 to 1993 nationwide.
Veterans in the field are feeling the effects.
“The secretary’s role has changed so much,” said Priscilla Nielsen, executive secretary to Anaheim Stadium Manager Greg Smith. “The old way of calling you in with your note pad and sitting across the desk is gone.”
Though their numbers are declining, many secretaries are keeping their jobs and becoming more valuable in their organizations. Those who will succeed are the ones who upgrade their skills, experts say.
For instance, Barbara M. Rier, longtime secretary to Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, can recite the long list of computer programs she has learned. She now has the kind of versatility that would have been uncommon among secretaries a generation ago.
Rier said she takes virtually every computer class offered by the county. And when Riley retires later this year, she intends to apply for a position as a staff analyst.
Spokeswoman Linda Doggett of Professional Secretaries International, a 44,000-member trade group based in Kansas City, Mo., said: “Secretaries are having to know more technical skills besides word processing because they are doing a wider range of tasks.”
Consider John Wolfson, a partner in the Costa Mesa office of Deloitte & Touche, the national accounting firm. Wolfson types his own letters, so by the time they go to administrative assistant Tamara Torosian, they are nearly letter perfect.
But that doesn’t mean he is putting Torosian out of a job. Rather, Wolfson said, his decision to write his own letters rather than dictate frees Torosian for more important tasks, such as setting up billing processes or arranging for meetings.
Today’s secretary, Wolfson said, “is not the ‘go-fer.’ ” Rather, he or she is “an integral part of the operation.”
And electronics will never be able to offer the personal touches that a secretary adds. That’s why Harvard economist Medoff said he recently turned down an opportunity to exchange his secretary for a computer.
“No piece of machinery could ever answer all the questions and give comfort to undergraduates,” he said, adding that he told his department chairman: “My secretary is so wonderful with students that I would like to have, if possible, a second secretary.”
Esmail Adibi, economist at Chapman University in Fullerton, said that the benefits of direct human contact ensure that there will always be secretaries.
“You need a linkage between the executive and the outside world,” he said. “The secretary serves as that linkage.”
Endangered Species: Secretary
With businesses keeping wages down and staffing to a minimum, the traditional secretary is on the way out. While they may never be replaced entirely, their role is changing and much of the drudgery has been shifted to computers and other technological devices.
* Telephone calls: In many offices, automated phone answering systems and voice mail have eliminated the need to personally answer phones and jot down messages.
* Scheduling: Personal Information Management (PIM) software such as Lotus Organizer or Microsoft Office can scan each individual’s computerized calendar to see when they are available, then notify them via E-mail of the proposed meeting time and place. Those invited RSVP electronically, and their response is recorded automatically.
* Letters and memos: Executives can call up an electronic form, type in the data, and print it in the proper format within minutes. Or they can send the item via fax/modem without ever making a printed copy.
* Travel arrangements: On-line airline and hotel reservation services eliminate the need to call around for prices. Tickets can be ordered electronically and delivered via overnight mail.
* Budgeting and bill-paying: Inexpensive software programs have replaced time-consuming ledger books and adding machines. Certain check-preparation tasks have been eliminated by electronic bill-paying systems.
ORANGE COUNTY SECRETARIAL JOBS
While the number of secretarial jobs in Orange County is expected to increase 5.4% by 1998, the demand appears weak compared to predicted expansion in industries that typically hire lots of clerical help. Job outlook for secretaries (except medical and legal):
1992 1998 % change 18,850 19,860 5.4
TOTAL JOB OUTLOOK
Total wage and salary employment at Orange County industries that typically hire lots of clerical help (annual averages in thousands):
1992 1998 % change Finance, insurance and real estate 94.4 99.4 5.3 Services 318.3 348.7 9.6 Government 127.4 137.1 7.6 Total, all industries 1,129.8 1,194.3 5.7
Sources: Economic Development Department, Times reports; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times
