APRIL 2017
P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A D A ' S O F F I C E S U P P O R T S T A F F
Administrative
Assistant's
UPDATE UPDATE
PM
#40065782
INSIDE
Bring on the challenge � � � � � 2
Supporting a top executive means
constant monitoring of priorities
LinkedIn strategies � � � � � � � � 3
Here are some of the changes as
Microsoft takes the reins
Career paths � � � � � � � � � � � � � 5
EA's community relationships
take her role to a new level
The multi-faceted admin � � � � 6
After side-trip into banking, this
admin has now turned to teaching
By George Pearson
AAU Editor
Employment opportunities for skilled
and savvy administrative profession-
als continue to expand.
While the national unemployment
rate for all occupations sits at about
6.8 per cent, according to Statscan,
the unemployment rate for the cat-
egory known as business, finance and
administrative occupations hovers
around 3.2 per cent.
"That, for all in-
tents and purposes,
is full employment,"
says Dianne Hun-
nam-Jones, a district
director for Office-
Team, the adminis-
trative staffing division of Robert Half.
Hunnam-Jones is based in Toronto.
"If you're looking for a job today
you actually have a little more of an
upper hand than you had six months
ago, because companies are looking
for your skills."
Of course the demand will vary
from one locale to another, and the
most intense demand for highly
skilled administrative pros is in the
country's urban centres, where it's not
unusual to find employers compet-
ing for the same experienced, highly
skilled candidates.
Where there is competition for
talent, employers may be willing to
loosen the purse strings and pay more
than they have in the past. They may
also be open to flexible work ar-
rangements: a compressed workday
(shorter lunch period, for example),
adjusted hours to accommodate fam-
ily needs, or the opportunity to work
from home.
Management not
feeling the pain
that workers do
Canadians are feeling an increas-
ing amount of workplace stress,
but management is not necessarily
aware of the extent to which that
stress is felt, according to a recent
study by Accountemps, a staffing
service for temporary accounting,
finance and bookkeeping profes-
sionals.
While only 21 per cent of CFOs
acknowledged their teams are
stressed, 58 per cent of workers re-
ported being "somewhat stressed"
(45%) or "very stressed" (13%).
Top stressors cited by employees
included heavy workloads and
looming deadlines (41%), attain-
ing work-life balance (22%) and
unrealistic expectations of manag-
ers (17%).
Employers compete for top
talent in admin sector
Credit: iQoncept (Shutterstock)
Continued on page 4
Dianne Hunnam-Jones