International Year of the Secretary is announced

2014 is going to be a big year for all those working in office management, as it has officially been designated as the International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Assistant (IYOTSA). The idea originated in South Africa, where a group of leading PAs at a PAFSA meeting (the Professional Association for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, the country’s industry body) decided that as next year marks the 30th anniversary of a similar celebration organised by the US-based secretarial body now known as IAAP, this milestone should be officially recognised.

PAFSA has contacted around 100 secretarial associations worldwide to inform them that South Africa plans to organise an international celebration of the profession during 2014 and has set up a task force to take on this project.

One of the reasons that such an initiative is so important is because research shows a staggering one fifth of the entire world’s working population is employed in some capacity in administration. The IYOTSA team has drawn up a charter that any company can sign up to in order to show its commitment to its admin staff. The taskforce is calling for companies to commit to investment in training for its management assistants.

Keep up to date with all the latest details of the year-long campaign on Twitter @iyotsa2014 and on LinkedIn at tinyurl.com/olxtjup