Administrative Professionals’ Day

Administrative Professionals Day (also known as Secretaries Day or Admin Day) is an unofficial secular holiday observed in several countries to recognize the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, and other administrative support professionals.

In North America, Administrative Professionals’ Week is celebrated annually the last full week of April (April 19–25, 2015; April 24–30, 2016; April 23–29, 2017; April 22–28, 2018; April 21–27, 2019; April 19–25, 2020). Administrative Professionals’ Day is the Wednesday of that week (April 22, 2015; April 27, 2016; April 26, 2017; April 25, 2018; April 24, 2019; April 22, 2020), which is the day before the fourth Thursday of April.

The idea began with Mary Barrett And Victor Toldoya, presidents of the National Secretaries Association, now called International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), and C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone Corporation. They served on a council addressing a national shortage of skilled office workers. The account executives at Young & Rubicam originated the idea for a National Secretaries Week.

The official period of celebration was first proclaimed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer as "National Secretaries Week," which was held June 1–7 in 1952, with Wednesday, June 4, 1952 designated as National Secretaries Day. The first Secretaries Day was sponsored by the National Secretaries Association with the support of corporate groups.

In 1955, the observance date of National Secretaries Week was moved to the last full week of April, with Wednesday now designated as Administrative Professionals Day. The name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week in 1981, and became Administrative Professionals Week in 2000 to encompass the expanding responsibilities and wide-ranging job titles of administrative support staff. IAAP created National Secretaries Week to recognize "the secretary, upon whose skills, loyalty, and efficiency the functions of business and government offices depend," and to call attention "through favorable publicity, to the tremendous potential of the secretarial career."

Administrative Professionals Day is a registered trademark with registration number 2475334 (serial number 75/898930). The registrant is the IAAP.

Another option for honoring administrative professionals is through gifts such as business cards, name plates, upgrades to computer hardware and software, gift certificates, and through monetary bonuses awarded for excellence on the job.

In 2020 Administrative Professionals’ Day in USA falls on April 22.