If you work as admin/support staff...

[Awkwardsauce]

How many people do you support?

Currently I am supporting 85+ at a consultancy company. I've worked there for years and I think it was around 25 at the start and nowhere near as busy. You'd have the odd crazy moment but it wasn't constant. I recall years ago hearing that there was supposed to be 1 admin person to every 20ish people or something. Things have changed a lot over the past few years. The company has grown and it will only get bigger. We have recently recruited another support person and it's early days yet but it still feels too much work. I'm feeling constantly overwhelmed and struggling to complete tasks. I remember when the job used to be manageable, I think those days are gone.

It's definitely become worse in recent times. I started a job five years ago where two of us were supporting a team of 15 in an exceptionally busy office. Before I left, it was 1.5 people supporting a team of 45. It was impossible.

85? That seems crazy, what do you do for them all?

I'm an EA for 3 people, and there is a wider team admin who looks after about 7. Everyone else (about 40 of them) have to sort their own stuff out.

I think it really depends on what your tasks are. Now everyone has direct lines and automated phones, and they do all their correspondence by email.

Our admin/support spend more time setting up board rooms for meetings, ordering office supplies, etc.

2 of us supporting a team of 8.

85 is ridiculous

I do a lot for them (not all at once but am juggling numerous tasks/requests at once these days). And everything is urgent of course. Arrange travel, book conferences, buying equipment. Various finance/practical things relating to the work itself. Using our internal system to set things up, answering questions, showing people how to do things, trying to work out what's wrong with the system. Meetings occasionally. A bit of training. It just feels nuts. There was another person helping when I first started too, long gone now. We joined with another dept too eventually and that's when it started getting too busy. I physically can't do everything. The new person will take some of the pressure away but even they won't be enough.

I'm a PA and support 3 Directors, I do pick bits up from their teams sometimes (mainly booking rooms for meetings as I now have the contacts) but mostly the teams and managers/leads do their own stuff.