Secretaries increasingly use personal computers to run spreadsheet, word-processing and other programs. Secretaries may specialize in legal or medical environments. Employment Outlook Secretaries held 3.4 million jobs in 1996 which is one of the largest occupations in the U.S. Legal secretaries held 284,000 jobs and medical secretaries held 239,000 jobs in 1996. Employment for secretaries who do not specialize in the medical or legal field is expected to decline. However jobs should be plentiful for well qualified or experienced secretaries due to replacement needs for this large field.
Salaries vary a great deal depending on area of the country, size of city, and industry.
Salaries tend to be higher in transportation, legal services, and public utilities and lower in retail, finance, insurance, and real estate. Assoc. of Admin. Nat'l Assoc. of Legal Sec.