Administrative Professionals Day (also known as Secretaries Day or Admins Day) is a day observed yearly in a small number of countries. It is not a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...

in any of them. In some countries, it falls within Administrative Professionals Week (the last full week of April in the United States). The day recognizes the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, executive assistants, personal assistants,

receptionist A receptionist is an Employment, employee taking an office or Business administration, administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting room, waiting area such as a Lobby (room), lobby or front office desk of an organ ...

s, client services representatives, and other administrative support professionals. Typically, administrative professionals are given cards, flowers, chocolates, and lunches.

Observance by country

* In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, it is celebrated annually on the Wednesday of the last full week of April. * In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, it is celebrated annually on the first Wednesday of September. * In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

it is celebrated on the first Friday in May. * In

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, it is celebrated on September 30. * In Colombia, it is celebrated on April 26. In 2025 it falls together with Children's Day.

History

During World War II, there was a shortage of skilled administrative personnel in the United States due to Depression-era birth-rate decline and booming post-war business.Rothman, Lily (April 22, 2015)
"A Brief History of Secretaries"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. Retrieved April 2, 2016. The National Secretaries Association, founded in 1942, was formed to recognize the contributions of administrative personnel to the economy, support their personal development, and to help attract workers to the administrative field.Bradshaw, William B. (April 26, 2014)
"Secretary, Administrative Assistant or Administrative Professional?"
''HuffPost''. Retrieved April 2, 2016."Administrative Professionals Day in the United States"
TimeandDate.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016. Key figures who created the holiday were the president of the National Secretaries Association, Mary Barrett; president of

Dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

Corporation, C. King Woodbridge; and public relations account executives at Young & Rubicam, Harry F. Klemfuss and Daren Ball. The National Secretaries Association's name was changed to Professional Secretaries International in 1981 and to the

International Association of Administrative Professionals International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IAAP) in 1998. ''Administrative Professionals Day'' is a

registered trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from ot ...

with registration number 2475334 (serial number 75/898930). The registrant is IAAP. The official period of celebration was first proclaimed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Charles W. Sawyer as "National Secretaries Week", which was held June 1–7 in 1952 with Wednesday, June 4 designated as National Secretaries' Day. The first Secretaries' Day was sponsored by the National Secretaries Association with the support of corporate groups. In 1955, the observance date of National Secretaries Week was moved to the last full week of April, with Wednesday now designated as Administrative Professionals Day. The name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week in 1981 and became Administrative Professionals Week in 2000 to encompass the expanding responsibilities and wide-ranging job titles of administrative support staff in the modern economy. The week-long observance was created in order to space out the bookings at restaurants, country clubs, and other places where administrative professionals would be taken out to lunch.

Criticism

Some critics regard the day as an invention of the flower, card, and candy industries for generating sales between

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

and

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

, which is the second Sunday of May in the United States.Hanauer, Cindy (March 3, 2014)
"Administrative Professionals Day: Stealth holiday for floral trade"
''The Produce News''. Retrieved April 2, 2016. It has also been argued that the traditional gifts of flowers and cards unintentionally mark the holiday and the administrative role as a gendered one, since these are typically feminine gifts, and that a specific day to celebrate administrative professionals isolates them from the rest of their workplace peers.

References

{{authority control April observances September observances Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) Types of secular holidays

Observance by country

History

Criticism

See also

References