The office sector today – jobs and future
Where does a trained office worker work?
Almost every company and public institution needs administration. This means office-trained people are not tied to one particular industry – they are found in industry, commerce, finance, law firms, municipalities, regions and state agencies. This makes the trade broad and flexible: if you can administer, coordinate and keep track of numbers and documents, you are needed almost everywhere.
§Typical workplaces
Where you end up depends on your speciality. If you choose administration, you often work in a company's administrative department. With economics or auditing you sit close to the accounts, perhaps in a finance department or at an auditor's. The speciality public administration leads you into municipalities, regions or the state, while the legal secretary has their place in law offices. Forwarding and shipping ties you to the transport and logistics industry.
- 01Private companies' administration and finance departments
- 02Municipalities, regions and state authorities
- 03Law and audit offices
- 04Transport logistics and shipping companies
- 05Banking, insurance and other business services
§Job prospects and demand
Because administration is a basic function in society there is a steady demand for skilled workers who can handle the tasks. Unemployment among office-trained employees is generally low and a skilled trade gives you a solid foothold in the job market. That you can work across industries also makes it easier to find a new job if you want to change direction.
§Digitalization changes the trade
Routine tasks are being increasingly automated. This does not mean that office work disappears, but that it shifts: instead of entering data manually you come to control, monitor and improve the systems that do the work. Understanding of IT, data and digital work processes therefore becomes increasingly important. The one who can combine administrative insight with digital skill stands strong in the future office trade.
At the same time the demands on your ability to communicate collaborate and understand the overall picture in a business are growing. The human and the digital go hand in hand — and it is precisely this combination that makes qualified office workers hard to replace.
“The office worker of the future types less and thinks more – the role shifts from performing tasks to getting systems and people to work together.”