EA Time Allocation Benchmark Report 2026

Methodology

We surveyed 400 executive assistants supporting C-suite principals across the United States and United Kingdom. Respondents tracked time using a self-reported daily log over a four-week period in Q1 2026. Role levels were segmented into EA-to-CEO, EA-to-CFO/COO, and EA-to-VP/Director. Data was collected from EAs at companies with 100 to 10,000 employees across seven industries.

Key Findings

Calendar management consumed the largest single share of EA time across all role levels. EAs supporting CEOs spent an average of 29% of their working hours on calendar-related tasks: scheduling, rescheduling, conflict resolution, and meeting logistics. For EAs supporting CFOs and COOs, the figure was 24%.

Communications management ranked second. Inbox triage, draft responses, stakeholder follow-up, and communication routing consumed 22% of time for CEO-facing EAs. A significant portion of this (approximately 40%) was flagging and routing rather than drafting.

Travel logistics represented 18% of time among EAs whose principals traveled more than two nights per month. For EAs whose principals traveled less, travel logistics dropped to 7%.

Board and investor preparation occupied 14% of time among EAs at companies with formal board structures. For pre-IPO companies, this figure rose to 19%.

Time Allocation by Task Category (CEO-Level EAs)

Task Category	Share of Time
Calendar management	29%
Communications management	22%
Travel logistics	18%
Board and investor prep	14%
Document production	9%
General administration	8%

Industry Variation

EAs in professional services (legal, consulting, private equity) spent significantly more time on document production than their counterparts in technology or healthcare, reflecting the higher volume of external-facing materials. Legal firm EAs averaged 17% of time on document production versus 6% for tech-company EAs.

EAs in healthcare showed the highest share of time devoted to stakeholder and regulatory communications: 28% versus a cross-sector average of 22%. This reflects the compliance-heavy communication environment typical of hospital systems and pharmaceutical companies.

Implications for EA Staffing

The data suggests that principals who hire a single EA and expect coverage across all task categories are structuring their support incorrectly above a certain volume threshold. CEOs who travel more than six nights per month and run active board cycles are effectively asking one person to do three specializations simultaneously.

Organizations that matched EA task profile to principal need (segmenting calendar-heavy roles from travel-heavy roles) reported higher EA retention rates and better principal satisfaction in follow-up survey questions.

For more on task delegation frameworks, see our C-suite executive assistant services and the onboarding guides that help principals structure the EA relationship from day one. To match your organization with an EA whose profile fits your specific time distribution, contact our team.