salary guide: office and administration.

The multitasking masters at the heart of business operations, administrative assistants are projected to be in demand throughout 2021. There were over 500,000 jobs posted for assistant personnel last year, and given how integral these office pros are to daily operations, businesses can't afford to lose them.

As the world continues to grapple with the effects of the pandemic, administrative assistants will find their services needed most in the healthcare sector. Last year, more than 67,000 job postings for administrative assistants were listed by healthcare and social assistance organizations. Employers looking to hire in these segments can expect to face increased competition as the year unfolds — and they should also make sure their compensation offerings align with the overall market.

Customer service volume for "difficult" calls more than doubled at the height of the pandemic, and the lingering inertia from this sudden burst is expected to propel hiring into 2021.

With consumers now electing to do more of everything online, call center representatives will find themselves in high demand. From telemedicine and financial services to grocery shopping, more customers means more queries, and call centers must be prepared with the right personnel to address them. With an increasing amount of these jobs being done remotely, employers should look to hire independent, self-motivated candidates who can stay focused and productive outside traditional office environments.

Account management. Ledger reconciliation. Regulatory compliance. Given the many duties of today's collections specialists, it should come as no surprise that 2021 will find them in demand throughout the finance and insurance sectors. Similarly, as the healthcare industry continues to grow, competition for collections specialists in health facilities is likely to increase as well. In fact, the healthcare and social assistance industries posted more job ads for collections specialists last year than any other industry except for finance and insurance.

Employers looking to hire in these highly competitive industries should tailor their benefits packages to meet the moment if they want to attract top talent. Expanded health coverage and flexible remote-work arrangements, already highly prized benefits by today's job seekers, are now more important to offer than ever.

With customer service requests up 16 percent compared to their pre-pandemic levels, demand for customer service representatives is expected to continue throughout 2021. Consumers engaged with e-commerce platforms during the pandemic first out of necessity but are sticking around out of convenience. Early indicators are even pointing to a more permanent shift in buying patterns that could ultimately yield a greater need for customer service reps to address queries from a growing base of online shoppers. One survey in particular found that 36 percent of U.S. consumers "expect to shop online more frequently after the pandemic ends."

Employers looking to hire talent in this segment should source for well-rounded candidates. With automated tools like chatbots taking work off of service reps' plates, the position now comes with more freedom to add value in other areas, with an especially high focus being placed on delivering personalized service and experiences for customers.

There were more than 77,000 new job postings for office managers in the past 12 months — and that number is expected to grow in the year ahead, especially in the healthcare, finance and insurance sectors, which collectively accounted for the lion's share of hiring last year. Driving part of that demand is the need for new areas of specialization that office managers are increasingly being called upon to have in their arsenal, including complex project management, general accounting and new-hire onboarding. 

That's a tall order, and all the more so when you consider the role office managers play in ensuring that teams have the workspaces, tools and cultural support they need to do their best work. Lately, these responsibilities have become even more challenging to deliver on, given increased safety precautions, remote-work arrangements and other recent developments. With all this in mind, it's clear that businesses will have to ensure their hiring process for this role is efficient and that they bring a competitive compensation package to the table, too. Otherwise they'll lose out on top talent in 2021 and beyond.