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Administrative and customer support leaders are navigating rising expectations with limited resources. Leaders are being asked to improve efficiency, deliver stronger customer experiences and support broader business priorities, often while adopting new technologies and managing skills gaps. As roles expand beyond traditional support to include workflow automation, data platforms and cross-functional coordination, the need for adaptable, digitally fluent professionals is growing.

To meet new demands, leaders are prioritizing a mix of hiring, upskilling and flexible staffing. Success depends on securing talent with strong communication skills, sound judgment and the ability to work alongside AI, helping organizations maintain consistent support while operating smarter and faster.

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Strategic priorities for 2026

Administrative and customer support leaders shared their strategic priorities for 2026. Expect demand—and competition—to increase for professionals with the specialized skills needed to advance these critical initiatives.

Improving team efficiency and workflow automation

Enhancing customer service and satisfaction

Building a corporate culture of recognition, engagement and accountability

Implementing or optimizing technology and collaboration tools

Supporting employee well-being and reduced burnout

Administrative and customer support teams face skills shortfalls that can stall critical initiatives. Only 12% of administrative and customer support leaders reported having the necessary headcount and skills to accomplish priority projects this year, and 56% said they need to upskill current team members.

Flexible staffing solutions can also help teams gain the necessary expertise to keep operations running smoothly.

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Time
management Critical
thinking Customer
service Process
workflow Communication Time
management Critical
thinking Customer
service Process
workflow Communication

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Adaptability
and continuous
learning Critical
thinking and
problem solving Creativity andbr>innovation Communication Emotional
intelligence Adaptability
and continuous
learning Critical
thinking and
problem solving Creativity andbr>innovation Communication Emotional
intelligence

Key technical competencies

Recruiting professionals with specialized abilities enables leaders to advance strategic initiatives. An analysis of thousands of job postings over the past year shows which technical competencies employers value most in administrative and customer support—making a competitive hiring strategy essential.

Administrative operations

Customer experience

Front office management

Google suite

Microsoft Excel

Project management

Workflows

Hiring plans for 2026

54%

of administrative and customer support leaders said finding skilled professionals is more challenging than a year ago.

50%

plan to increase permanent headcount in the first half of 2026.

44%

plan to increase contract or temporary hiring in the first half of 2026.

Roles shaping hiring strategies

The following positions are experiencing above-average sequential growth and consistent demand throughout the past 12 months, according to an analysis of thousands of job postings and Robert Half placements:

Administrative assistant

Customer service specialist

Executive assistant

Front desk coordinator

Logistics specialist

Office manager

Project manager

Property management assistant

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2026 Salary Guide Explore the latest data for roles across 7 professional fields and what you should pay or earn in local and national markets.

2025 In-Demand Finance and Accounting Roles and Hiring Trends Explore key finance and accounting trends in 2025, from talent shortages to in-demand roles. Learn how to attract and retain skilled professionals.

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, hiring managers and workers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000+ employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across the U.S.

Over 1.5 million new positions from more than 9,000 independent job boards and company websites are represented in this report, including 90,000-plus placements from Robert Half. Positions are categorized into more than 430 job titles within Robert Half’s Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, non-clinical healthcare, and human resources professions.