Secretaries' Day was 42 days, ie 1 month and 12 days ago.

In 2020 Secretaries' Day was on April 22nd (wednesday).

We all meet them in our everyday life – at work, in offices, in different companies. Although we might not always appreciate their importance, they do have their own holiday – we are talking about secretaries. In the United States and Canada, Wednesday of the last full week of April is observed as National Administrative Professionals’ Day, but is also known as Secretaries Day or Admin Day. Some other countries also celebrate the day, even though it is never a public holiday.

The idea of creating a day for honoring administrative employees roots back to the World War II. At that time in the United States there was a shortage of such skilled workers. This is why in 1942 a National Secretaries Association was founded. Its aim was to attract employees to the administrative field and to support the personal development of all administrative professionals. The first National Secretaries Day and National Secretaries Week was observed in June 1952. Three people played the key role in designating such a holiday: Mary Barrett (the president of the National Secretaries Association), C. King Woodbridge (president of Dictaphone Corporation), and Harry F. Klemfuss (public relations account executive at Young & Rubicam). In 1955 the date of the holiday was changed to the current one: a Wednesday of the last full week of April. The name of the holiday has also changed twice: in 1981 to Professional Secretaries Day, and in 2000 to Administrative Professionals’ Day.

The holiday aims at recognizing the work of all administrative workers – secretaries, receptionists, administrative assistants and other professionals in this field. Although providing the appreciation for their work should not only be a one-time annual action, this day is a good time for the bosses to show their support for those who work for them. A nice way for doing this could be giving a small gift, flowers or sweets. Many secretaries would probably be happy to get a well-deserved day off or a monetary benefit.

Did you know?

Apart from most popular names of the holiday, such as Secretaries Day or Administrative Professionals’ Day, it is also jokingly called “I Love my PA” Day. In many cases this statement is true – a secretary is often the most important employee for the boss. Secretaries do the endless paperwork that no one else wants to do, plan each day of their boss and keep their finger on the pulse of the whole company. Although many might not notice their importance, without them many businesses would not be able to function.