2025 Canada Administrative and Customer Support Job Market Outlook

3.8%* August 2025 unemployment rate (Administration)

4.4%* August 2025 unemployment rate (Customer Support)

Strong communication and organizational abilities remain essential for administrative and customer support roles, but today’s professionals are also often expected to take on responsibilities such as navigating CRM platforms, supporting automation initiatives and contributing to cross-functional process improvements. Finding candidates with digital fluency and a strong service mindset is a challenge for employers.

Many organizations are turning to contract professionals to meet immediate business needs and bridge skill gaps. They’re also hiring talent for roles that merge classic support duties with tech-focused responsibilities—for example, an executive assistant who not only coordinates meetings and travel but also supports workflow automation efforts across teams. These hybrid professionals help boost operational efficiency, respond faster to shifting priorities, and provide more seamless, connected customer experiences.

Administrative and customer support leaders report it takes just over 4 weeks to hire candidates for permanent roles.

said evaluating applications and determining which candidates to interview is their greatest hiring challenge. said evaluating applications and determining which candidates to interview is their greatest hiring challenge.

Hiring for strategic priorities: permanent and contract staff

Administrative and customer support leaders shared their top priorities through the end of the year for hiring permanent employees and contract talent.

Technology upgrades or integration

Customer satisfaction

Data analytics for performance management

Improving time to resolution

Quality assurance

Cybersecurity and data privacy

58% of administrative and customer support leaders reported skills gaps within their department, and 56% said the impact of those gaps has increased in the past year.

Administrative
duties Customer
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call centre Office services Management Administrative
duties Customer
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call centre Office services Management

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Almost all administrative and customer support leaders need to add new staff or at least maintain current headcount to deliver on top business priorities. Yet 82% of those hiring said it’s challenging to find the talent they need in the current market.

of leaders are hiring for new permanent positions. of leaders are hiring for new permanent positions.

are hiring only for vacated permanent positions. are hiring only for vacated permanent positions.

Hiring plans for the second half of 2025: contract professionals

66% of administrative and customer support leaders said they’re increasing their use of contract talent. They also shared what they view as the greatest value in engaging these professionals.

Flexibility in scaling workforce

Faster staffing for critical roles

Access to specialized skills or expertise

Cost savings compared with permanent hiring

Administrative and customer support professionals in highest demand

The following positions are in the top 25% of administrative and customer support roles in demand, according to an analysis of thousands of job postings and Robert Half placements.

Administrative assistant

Call centre specialist

Customer service manager

Customer service specialist

Executive assistant

Office manager

Project assistant/coordinator

Receptionist/Front desk coordinator

Learn more about the top roles in demand

Make sense of shifting job market dynamics

Our Labour Market Overview puts the latest reports from Statistics Canada in context. Get data on employment trends and unemployment numbers, as well as our exclusive analyses of job posting data. 

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*Statistics Canada, seasonally adjusted, September 2025.

The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives and hiring managers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.

Over 420,000 new positions from more than 5,400 unique independent job boards and company websites provided by TextKernel are represented in our analysis of in-demand roles, including 6,300-plus placements from Robert Half. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.