Administrative Professionals Week (APW or Admin Pro Week) is celebrated worldwide every last full week of April with the intervening Wednesday designated as Administrative Professionals Day. It was established as an annual opportunity for businesses to recognize administrative support staff for their valuable contributions in the workplace and to encourage professional growth.
Over the years, Admin Pro Week has become one of the largest workplace observances. The annual celebration brings together administrative professionals for community events, social gatherings, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation. The day is often celebrated by giving one’s assistant such gifts as flowers, gift baskets, and gift cards.
This annual event was originally organized in 1952 as “National Secretaries Week” by the National Secretaries Association (now known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals) in conjunction with public relations executive Harry Klemfuss and a consortium of office product manufacturers. In 2000, IAAP changed Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day® (APD) to keep pace with admins’ changing job titles and expanding responsibilities.
In the Philippines, a Presidential Proclamation No. 153 was signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos on March 19, 1993 declaring the third week of April of every year as Secretaries’ Week. This was then amended on April 20, 2001 by Proclamation No. 35 which was signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, transferring the observance of Secretaries’ Week to the last full week of April of every year under the auspices of the Philippine Association of Secretaries.
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