Once again, here’s another one of those “reporter shocked to discover that some people are less-than-completely-nice to their employees” articles. This one comes courtesy of the Telegraph and reports that many secretaries and assistants in the UK have to do personal tasks for their bosses, even when it does not fall under their immediate job description. Such tasks include:
- Bathe her boss’ elderly mother
- Help with the boss’ kids’ homework (translation: do it for them)
- Mend the boss’ clothes
According to Rosemary Parr of a “PA training firm” called Global PA Network:
“The perception of the role is stuck in a time warp from 40 or 50 years ago when secretaries were seen as surrogate wives or housekeepers. Now they are more like management assistants - they need to be their managers’ second brain, anticipating what their bosses want next as well as doing what they want now, but what our research has shown is that they are not getting the recognition for it.”
This shouldn’t shock anyone who has ever actually worked as an assistant. Right, Joan Holloway?
0 Responses to “british secretaries treated badly, too”