Not just for executives anymore

Everyday workers are hiring EAs to balance work, home and ever-crazier schedules

IF YOU READ a previous story of ours about workers finding themselves feeling refreshed and ready to hit the ground running on Mondays thanks to their AI assistants, but you’re still feeling a bit squishy about AI in general, then what about hiring your own human assistant, with flesh and bones and everything?

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In our time-pressed, pressure-heavy world of work, hiring an executive assistant is no longer just for the C-Suite, according to Callum Borchers of The Wall Street Journal. “Some regular folks like me have decided not to let titles, or lack thereof, stop them from having executive assistants,” he wrote detailing how a rising trend in white-collar work has seen people willing to shell out real dollars for a bit of administrative help. “They see it as an investment that can pay for itself in increased productivity and earnings, and a testament to the modern habit of overscheduling ourselves. They also say it’s worth every penny and makes them feel like bosses.”

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It is an easy sales pitch. Sundays, one of the leading executive assistant services, aims directly at working parents, promising to “help every parent thrive — at work, home and everywhere in between,” and to “help our clients spend their time where it is most valuable, both at home and at work.”

My, how far we’ve come. Just a year or so ago, hired help was a bit of a taboo in the work world, with Business Insider investigating “shadow stand-ins” and revealing the rise of secret job outsourcing. Now, with pressure on workers seemingly felt from all angles, it’s talked about as smart business, and a perk to be enjoyed by all. “This new brand of EA is marketed directly to rank-and-file workers for as few as five hours a month,” Borchers wrote.

Still, some are feeling a little sketchy about the practice — particularly companies which now have to wonder who, exactly, is looking at company information. If there is a strong case to be made against the democratization of EAs, that might be it.

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“There are legal ramifications associated with non-employees having access to company information,” wrote Inc.com’s Suzanne Lucas. But, she says, it is time for companies to take that risk seriously.

“You may think it’s overkill, and no one is doing this. But they are, and the numbers will increase,” she said. “As soon as one gains the power to organize your employee’s work, they have the power to destroy work as well.” Kieran Delamont