THE CHALLENGES OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON SECRETARIAL PROFESSION

Abstract

The challenges faced by a secretary or a professional secretary as a result of the advent of new technology are very challenging with the uniqueness of her profession. The secretary is an assistant to an executive and is trained to type and performs many office duties. She possesses personal and business qualities and guards her professional ethics of confidentiality. But today the gradual shift
towards new technologies in the office threatens her job. Many executives think they can use the computer themselves and thus, they don’t need the secretary. This is so because the modern laptop does not require the executives to know keyboarding because they can talk to or write on the screen and everything would be typed. He can employ internet teleconferencing facilities for meetings. All these notwithstanding, the secretary is indispensable. This is because the executive needs an assistant who invariably must be the secretary who is trained in receiving visitors, answering and making telephone calls when the executive is busy with very important engagements. This paper reveals that secretarial professionals remain relevant in the areas of document
preparation, office administration, human relations and executive assistance where the new technology cannot rule.

Key words: Challenge, New Technology, Indispensable, Secretarial profession