Virtual employees save you 50%
I don’t think it’s any secret that when an employee is in the office 40 hours a week, they are not actually working all those hours. They have numerous daily distractions from children and spouses calling to chatting with coworkers. A study by Basex, a New York research firm, found that office distractions total 2.1 hours a day for the average employee – more than 10 hours and 25 percent of a regular workweek. This doesn’t even take into account the amount of time an employee spends on personal tasks at work. Virtual assistant staffing, you only pay for the exact amount of time your virtual employee works.
In addition, you don’t pay for office expenses such as utilities, desk, chair, computer, and the office space itself.
Then are benefits expenses including, vacation time, sick time, and insurance coverage. With a virtual assistant, you pay for their hourly rate and reimburse for any costs incurred for the job (mailing costs, etc.)
Take a look at the below expenses comparing a regular employee to a virtual assistant.
Regular employee expenses
Wage $15/hour x 40 hr/week = $31,200/year
Social Security (.062 x 31,200) = $1,934/year
Medicare (.0145 x 31,200) = $452/year
Workers comp (.15 x 31,200) = $4,680/year
Sick time 1 week/year = $600/year
Vacation time 2 weeks/year = $1,200/year
Health Insurance Average = $7,800/year
FUTA (.008 x 7,000) = $56/year
Cost of hiring According to Business Week = $3,270/year
Office distractions* = $8,190 per year
Office utilities $300 per month = $3,600/year
Computer for the assistant = $1,000
Modest desk and chair = $700
Phone line install & monthly charges = $1,300
Moderate office $900/month = $10,800/year
Total = $73,782 per year Or = $35.47 per hour
Average Virtual Assistant expenses
$24.86/hour x 30 hr/week = $38,782/year
Social Security N/A Independent Contractor = $0
Medicare N/A Independent Contractor = $0
Workers comp N/A Independent Contractor = $0
Sick time N/A Only Pay for Time Worked = $0
Vacation time N/A Only Pay for Time Worked = $0
Health Insurance N/A Independent Contractor = $0
FUTA N/A Independent Contractor = $0
Cost of hiring requires no start up payment = $0
Office distractions* Working from home there are no office distractions = $0
Office utilities N/A Independent Contractor – they pay their own utilities = $0
Computer N/A Independent Contractor – they buy their own computer = $0
Desk and chair N/A Independent Contractor – they buy their own desk and chair = $0
Add’l phone line N/A Independent Contractor – they pay for their own phone = $0
Office space N/A working from home = $0
Total = $38,782/year Or $18.65/hour
When all is said and done, you spend nearly double the amount for an in-house employee than for a virtual one.
Time is money. Hire a virtual assistant and save on both.
