PA poll takes the temperature of the profession

Nearly two-thirds of all PAs working in the UK feel they are underpaid and more than half of them say their boss expects them to work outside of normal office hours. In addition, a resounding 78% feel that the occupation of PA is undervalued as a career choice. These are some of the findings of this year’s National PA Survey, conducted by the organiser of Office, the UK’s leading trade show for the PA community.

The poll also revealed that the majority of those working as PAs earn between £26-30K a year, (26%) perhaps explaining why only a third (35%) feel they are remunerated “adequately”. The good news is that, on a scale of 1 to 5, 42% of personal assistants feel the way they are appreciated by their boss deserves a rating of four.

The biggest task that PAs are charged with handling is diary management, (37%) followed by email management at 23%, office management at 15% and travel management (4%).

Asked to sum up the role of the PA using just one word, some examples that were submitted by respondents include “multitasker”, “organised”, “essential”, “rewarding”, “demanding”, “hectic” and “varied”.

Next year’s Office show will again take place at Olympia and will run from 13-14 October 2015, find out more at officeshow.co.uk.