[reubens grandma]

Where would one go to find information as to admin headcount ratio (roughly) by company size and industry? For example, what is today's norm as to how many admins are in a company with 100 total employees?

[LisaOlsen]

Great question. I would start at Office Team. They provide some valuable resources on admin statistics and you might be able to contact them regarding your question. OfficeTeam - Temporary Staffing Agency - Office Staffing Services

I'm not sure there is a "norm" out there right now! Considering the economic crunch I don't think any companies are really running on normal, they are in survival mode! There are so many variables that might determine how many admins are in a company it would be difficult to determine a standard ratio.

Let us know if you come up with anything.

[mzimmerm]

That's a tough question. There are so many variables to consider when figuring out how many admins are needed for a particular company. The variables that come to mind include: industry, type and number of customers or clients, geographical location of the company (offsite locations?), and how management staff prefer to do their administrative tasks. There are some managers who prefer to do their own email, letters, phone calls, etc. and there are some who would rather have an admin filter those items for them. I've worked at some companies where every exec, director and manager had their own admin (and sometimes more than one). At my current employer, admins are assigned to a whole department and some departments do not even have an admin. Although it is a nonprofit, I wouldn't consider it a small company - we have ~500 employees.

Is there any particular reason you're asking?

[ljmorgan]

The standard answer is it depends. You could get an industry average, I don't know where, but each company is different.

When I first started at the telecoms, each district manager had an entry level admin who would manage their calendar (ah the days of real calendars!) and do the expense reports, attendance and presentations for the rest of the district.

District managers reported into the Division Manager

Division managers had a dedicated admin, but they were the same level as the district admin.

Directors had a dedicated admin, who as a first level manager.

VP's had their own admin and they also had and Executive Assistant who had their own admin who would back up for the VPs admin when she was out.

Now at the last teleco I worked at, there was 1 admin for every 3 - 4 VPs and anyone below a VP didn't get an admin.

Companies are getting leaner with their admin staff and executives are expected to take up the slack.