We’re a PA recruitment agency in London that has kept working throughout the pandemic. But we wanted to speak to the PAs themselves to find out how much their roles have changed since March.
No international travel but lots more Zoom
“Before March, I’d have said about 40% of my workload involved organising international travel for my team of executives,” Jennifer told us. “Now, they aren’t travelling anywhere, so there aren’t any bookings to be made. However, they need me to coordinate a lot of international meetings using platforms such as Zoom. I’ve been attending the meetings with them, which we’ve all found really useful. They can clarify things with me, and I understand things in a way I didn’t before. I actually feel like I’ve become more useful.”
Client entertaining has changed
Justin explained what it’s been like for him: “To start with, during lockdown, we pulled back on all client entertaining. No one wanted to mix, even if they could. But now, we’ve had to think of more flexible ways of entertaining clients than before. I can’t just ring up a restaurant with 15 minutes warning; everything has to be carefully planned and risk-assessed for Covid. We’ve been carrying out some different ideas for entertaining, but it’s still very limited — and to be honest, all the fun is taken out of things when I have to complete yet another risk assessment!”
Working from home has been great
Alison used to work in Holburn but is currently working from home. “We started going back to the office but when numbers increased again, we’ve gone back to working from home,” she told us. “To be honest, I love working from home. It took some getting used to, but now all the systems are in place, I find I can get so much more done compared to when I had lots of interruptions in the office. I can put together a PowerPoint in one sitting. It’s great!”
Working from home has been hard
Sue has a different opinion on working from home. “One of the reasons I loved working as a PA was that it’s quite a sociable role and you’re always chatting with someone,” she explained. “Now I feel shut away. I miss the buzz of the office. Every day feels the same and motivating myself is hard.”
The needs of my executive have changed
Alisha feels like her role has changed considerably. “Because my executive’s role has changed, mine has too,” she said. “As a PA, I do what she needs and her needs are now different. I feel like we’ve been learning together how to adapt to the change. I can’t see things changing back any time soon as the direction of the business has had to also change.”
Are you looking for PA jobs in London?
The vast majority of PA jobs in London are still being done from home. Some are returning to the office, but it’s quite limited. If you’re currently looking for a PA role, either in permanent or temporary jobs in London, you’ll need to be flexible about working from home.
Do get in touch on 020 7870 7177 to see what’s currently available.
Love Success is a leading London PA & office support recruitment agency.
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