New research from GroupTogether reveals the gap between how much we rely on admins and how rarely we recognise them
Somewhere in Australia right now, an EA is booking a flight their boss forgot to organise, fielding a call their boss forgot to return, and reminding their boss about a meeting they scheduled and mentally filed under “someone else’s problem”.
They do this every day. Without complaint. Often without so much as a thanks.
New research from GroupTogether, released ahead of Admin Professionals Day (Friday 1 May), puts a number on the problem. Nearly 2 in 3 Australians surveyed said their workplace would face noticeable disruption or chaos if their EA or admin took a week off without notice. Nearly 1 in 4 said it would be outright chaos.
Yet when EAs were asked to rate their own experience of recognition at work, nearly 1 in 4 described themselves as “mostly invisible” or said they didn’t know what workplace appreciation even looks like.
“There’s a wild contradiction at the heart of Australian workplace culture,” said Ali Linz, Co-Founder of GroupTogether. “Everyone knows their EA is the reason things don’t fall apart. But somewhere between knowing it and saying it out loud, we all just… drop the ball. Every year. You’d be gobsmacked how far a little appreciation goes! A thoughtful card and a digital gift card arriving in their email. It’ll make their day.”
The irony isn’t lost on anyone who’s worked alongside an EA for long: they’re the people who run the birthday collections, organise the farewell cakes, and remind everyone else when it’s time to chip in. They’re often the last ones on the receiving end.
Admin Professionals Day falls on Friday 1 May. GroupTogether, which runs digital group gift collections for workplaces across Australia, is marking the occasion with a national awareness campaign and in-person community events for EAs in Sydney and Melbourne.
For bosses wondering where to start, GroupTogether’s AnyCard lets an EA spend a gift wherever they actually want to. It takes two minutes.
GroupTogether is a leading platform for workplace gifting and celebrations, used by more than one million people worldwide. Designed to make gifting easy and meaningful, GroupTogether helps companies organize gift collections, group cards and eGift Cards with zero hassle for birthdays, farewells, milestones, end of year gifts and more.
Survey methodology note
Disruption survey: 1,124 respondents, general workplace audience.
Recognition survey: 520 EA and admin respondents. Both surveys were conducted in the Australian market.
