receptionist
Receptionists are responsible for the reception area of a business. They answer the phone, greet guests, pass information, respond to inquiries and instruct visitors. They are the first point of contact for clients and customers.
receptionist receptionists are responsible for the reception area of a business. They answer the phone, greet guests, pass information, respond to inquiries and instruct visitors. They are the first point of contact for clients and customers. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include customer service, company policies, communicate with customers, communicate verbal instructions, disseminate internal communications.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £24,678 a year for Receptionists (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £22,124 to £28,730 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 4216). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Clerical support workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only receptionist, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 4. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
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Top skills
Frequently asked questions
What does receptionist do?
Receptionists are responsible for the reception area of a business. They answer the phone, greet guests, pass information, respond to inquiries and instruct visitors. They are the first point of contact for clients and customers.
What skills does receptionist need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include customer service, company policies, communicate with customers, communicate verbal instructions, disseminate internal communications, greet guests. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace receptionist?
Our AI-durability model gives receptionist a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.