Almost 87% of Australian employees believe there should be more male secretaries in the workplace, according to a survey by recruitment firm PKL. With the increase in female bosses, having a male secretary is the next big thing.
More men are working in the role of PA, and 59.3% of the survey respondents said they had encountered a male secretary in a current or previous job. And as men move into the role, it is gaining status.
Roxanne Calder, director of PKL, says: “The role of a secretary has changed dramatically in the last five years. They no longer make tea, pick up the dry cleaning and take phone messages. The role nowadays entails sophisticated research, advanced people-handling and communication skills, as well as being extremely well-versed in technology.”
Or are men moving into the role because it has gained status?
The banking and finance industry is the biggest employer of male secretaries; media advertising and entertainment industries are next, then IT and HR.
True to stereotype, the survey found that the automotive and trade services sector prefer the old roles of male bosses and female secretaries.
“Secretaries are the backbone of the business and in many cases provide valuable insights and advice to their boss. Before World War II, most secretaries were males. The secretarial role needs people, male or female, who are highly organised, are able to deal with stress and deadlines,” says Calder.
Almost half of small business owners say they would have difficulty surviving without a wireless advice like a BlackBerry, according to an AT&T survey of 1000 US business owners reported by PRNewswire.
According to the survey, 51% of business owners say they depend on wireless technology more than they did a year ago, to the point where 42% now say that it would be a major challenge to run their business without it.
Over 40% of business owners say they regularly conduct business while at home or on the road. Of those, 53% said the success of their business depends on having access to efficient mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and PCs with mobile internet.
But technology is about more than just survival – just over 50% say they use wireless technology to give their business an advantage over competitors.
Business owners’ increased reliance on mobile communication and internet access appears to be a function of the increasing burdens of home life coming to a crunch with the long working hours of many small business owners.
IT consultancy Gartner has come up with its list of the top strategic technologies for 2008. Here are the top 5:
Gold and diamonds are soooo 2006. For the latest, biggest and best in bling, you need a Google VanityRing. According to OhGizmo, the VanityRing has an LCD display where the diamond would usually sit which shows something much more valuable: how many hits are returned by a Google search on your name. At night, you plug the VanityRing into its ring box and your Google stats will be updated.
The only problem is, you get all the hits for your name, even if the person referred to is not actually you. So the John Smiths of the world come out looking pretty darn cool, whether they are or not.
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