It’s often said that people who can type will always be able to find work, but some secretaries and PAs are still feeling a little jittery at the moment, particularly those who are job-hunting. The headlines we’ve been seeing lately don’t exactly inspire confidence in the employment market. Reports about thousands of job cuts, a possible recession and climbing unemployment rates are enough to make even the most optimistic among us frown.

Alison King was made redundant from her role as a PA at a reinsurance firm in December. After taking some time off, she started looking for work in April. “When I was first made redundant I wasn’t worried,” she says. “But the market seems to have turned since the beginning of the year and I am concerned about what will be out there for me.” King isn’t alone in her apprehension, says Erin Williams, manager of the permanent division at secretarial recruiter Crone Corkill. “There is some worry among support staff and we have received an increase in inquiries from candidates asking whether there are still jobs out there,” she explains.

But Williams believes the impact of the credit crunch is really being felt only in the banking sector. “In the City, there are many other types of companies that are still recruiting,” she says.

Roisin Holden, at the secretarial agency King & Toben, says that PAs with finance experience can easily transfer into other sectors if they are unable to find a role in their specific area of expertise.

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“A good PA will always find a job,” she says. “Whether you are a PA to someone who runs a publishing company or someone who runs an investment bank, the skills are exactly the same.” But the idea that anyone who can type can slip into a support role is misguided, says Holden, who says that experienced support staff needn’t worry about competing with those looking to move into the sector from other areas of work. “People do think \ is just typing,” she says. “But secretaries now are much more strategic, and employers want people with experience.”

Outside the finance sectors, secretaries and PAs are less fixated on the economy. A survey conducted in April by the recruitment website SecsintheCity.com found that 83 per cent of those questioned were just as confident of securing a job this year as they were last year.

Tracy Valentine-Jones, an executive legal secretary, is among those sticking with the “glass half full” mentality. “At this stage I am not worried, but should a serious recession hit, I may start to.” Valentine-Jones says she is confident that she would find a new position if she were made redundant from her role at a large City legal firm. “It might not necessarily be in the sector that I want, but there would be work out there for me,” she says.

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