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Whatever happened to secretaries anyway? Were they really cost-cut for managers to do by themselves? You're right though, it's a valuable job being the glue of
by lordnacho 3y ago
Whatever happened to secretaries anyway? Were they really cost-cut for managers to do by themselves?
You're right though, it's a valuable job being the glue of a business. In more than one way, not just work-wise. Social stuff matters too, and was often the domain of the secretaries.
- dboreham 3y agoSymptom of "MBAs eating the world". They got fired in the first layoff round, back around 1998.
- dsr_ 3y agoSecretaries spent a lot of time typing, and therefore were considered to be typists. In the 1990s using a keyboard went from a subservient role (typist) to a prestigious role (computers are expensive!) and then achieved ubiquity. If you look at things through the lens of social status signalling among primates, an awful lot becomes clear. Consider office arrangements. What primates like is having: - a private space to retreat to, and - a team/family shared space, and - a tribal/company shared space that strangers can be invited to visit, often decorated to show off success/wealth. Control is established by the leaders awarding better territories to themselves and favorite allies, and by removing private spaces for those of low status. The worst insult is to remove space ownership altogether for some low status people, making them "hot desk" or "hotel".
- bumby 3y agoIn theory, they were replaced by technology. Answering machine (later voicemail), word processor/grammar checkers, email calendars, etc. Part of the problem is that some of the time this was supposed to free up was consumed by managing the tech itself.