Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Office and administrative support / 43-6014.00

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers.

US jobs
1,706,790
Median wage
$47,540 a year
Job family
Office and administrative support

Can agents do the work of secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Office and administrative support:

  • Task levelStrongOn computer-use and office-task benchmarks, top agents pass most tasks: 90.2% on OSWorld-Verified (humans: 72.4%), 83.1% on SpreadsheetBench, and 63.3% on WorkArena L1 under the standard protocol. Limits: many top entries are self-submitted and not re-run by the maintainers, and on TheAgentCompany's multi-step workplace tasks the best agent resolves 42.9%.
  • Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's GDPval deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons, but GDPval tasks are one-shot and fully specified. No benchmark in our collection tests multi-day administrative work, such as running a calendar or a purchasing process.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in office and administrative support, not always this occupation's tasks.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
  • Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
  • Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
  • Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
  • Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.
  • Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.
  • Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations.
  • Schedule and confirm appointments for clients, customers, or supervisors.
  • Maintain scheduling and event calendars.
  • Compose, type, and distribute meeting notes, routine correspondence, or reports, such as presentations or expense, statistical, or monthly reports.
  • Complete forms in accordance with company procedures.
  • Locate and attach appropriate files to incoming correspondence requiring replies.
Other job titles for this occupation (34)

Administrative Assistant (Admin Assistant) · Administrative Clerk · Administrative Secretary (Admin Secretary) · Administrative Specialist (Admin Specialist) · Administrative Support Assistant (ASA) · Administrative Technician · Department Secretary · Office Assistant · Secretary · Staff Assistant · Administrative Associate · Administrative Coordinator · Administrative Liaison · Administrative Resources Associate · Administrative Support Specialist · Alumni Secretary · Appointment Scheduler · Clerical Secretary · Clerk Secretary · Escrow Assistant · Escrow Secretary · Front Desk Coordinator · Office Administrator · Office Secretary · Operations Assistant · Personal Assistant · Personal Secretary · Police · Police Administrative Assistant · Program Assistant · Real Estate Administrative Assistant · Scheduling Coordinator · School Attendance Secretary · School Secretary