An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Requirements Survey > Publications > Factsheets

Office and administrative support occupations

Office of workers with headsets typing on computers This occupational group includes communications equipment and computer operators, bill collectors, gaming cage workers, tellers, information and record clerks, customer service representatives, eligibility interviewers, secretaries and administrative assistants, couriers, dispatchers, data entry and information processing workers, and desktop publishers.

For terms and definitions in this profile, see definitions of major terms.

Cognitive and mental requirements

The qualifications that workers need to use judgment, make decisions, interact with others, and adapt to changes in jobs.

In 2025, external verbal interactions were required constantly (every few minutes) for 40.3 percent of office and administrative support workers. External verbal interactions were required more than once per hour (but not constantly) for 31.5 percent.

Table 1. Percentage of office and administrative support workers with cognitive and mental requirements, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Work schedule varies	26.4	73.6
Ability to pause work (and take brief unscheduled breaks)	66.5	33.5
Working around crowds	<0.5	>99.5
Telework routinely allowed	21.5	78.5
Supervising others	8.4	91.6
Supervisor present in immediate work area	72.6	27.4
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey

Education, training, and experience requirements

The minimum level of formal education required, credentials necessary, on-the-job training, and prior work experience necessary for average performance in jobs. The time associated with these requirements is combined to calculate the specific vocational preparation level needed for the job.

In 2025, prior work experience was required for 55.6 percent of office and administrative support workers and on-the-job training was required for 90.3 percent.

A high school diploma was required for 76.3 percent of office and administrative support workers.

Environmental conditions

The various hazards or difficulties that are in the area where workers perform their critical tasks.

In 2025, a quiet noise exposure was present for 25.2 percent of office and administrative support workers. Another 74.2 percent were exposed to moderate noise, 0.5 percent were exposed to loud noise, and less than 0.5 percent to very loud noise. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was used by 0.6 percent of workers to mitigate noise exposure and was not used by 99.4 percent.

Physical demands

The physical activities required to perform tasks in jobs. The presence and, in some cases, duration of these activities are published.

In 2025, speaking was required for greater than 99.5 percent of office and administrative support workers and was not required for less than 0.5 percent. For 1.7 percent of workers, speaking was seldom required, for 52.1 percent speaking was occasionally required, for 45.2 percent speaking was frequently required, and for less than 5 percent speaking was required constantly.

Performing work in low postures was required for 21.1 percent of office and administrative support workers and was not required for 78.9 percent.

The choice to sit or stand when performing critical tasks was available to 76.9 percent of office and administrative support workers. On average, workers spent 82.2 percent of the workday sitting and 17.8 percent of the workday standing.

Table 2. Percentage of office and administrative support workers with physical demands, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Ability to choose to sit or stand for tasks	76.9	23.1
Driving	8.5	91.5
Climbing structure-related ramps or stairs	7.0	93.0
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey