Can a virtual assistant really save you money?  Although a VAs hourly rates are often double what you would pay an in-house employee, there are an awful lot of “hidden fees” associated with employees, and the end-result will astonish you.  There are the physical expenses of office space, equipment, supplies, and incidentals like Friday donuts and the annual Christmas party.  Then you have to think about how much turn-over you’ll have to worry about, because today’s employees like to jump around.  So that adds the recruiting, interviewing, and training processes, not to mention the risks of unemployment and workman’s compensation.  There is also the additional administrative staff you will need to support these employees, like HR and accounting.  And of course, you have to consider the obvious expenses of taxation and benefits, including vacation and sick time.  Did you get all of that?  It’s a lot to add up. 

Before you look at the chart below, we warn you that it is SHOCKING!  Those of you who have never hired an employee before probably have no idea how much it will cost.  And those of you who have had employees may have wondered where all of the money was going!  The chart below, backed by independent U.S. Government studies, will show you the obvious choice to hire a qualified virtual assistant.

According to the 2008 National Compensation Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor:

The costs of wages/salary only account for 70% of employee compensation.  The remaining 30% is spent on employee benefits, including but not limited to: Insurance Premiums, Pension & Savings, Paid Leave (Vacation, holiday, sick time), and Payroll Taxes (Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, Workman's Comp).

Administrative costs (recruiting, hiring, training, agency fees, record maintenance, etc.) add an additional 32% to the costs of employee compensation, and operational costs such as office space, office equipment and supplies add another 28%.

According to a survey conducted by www.salary.com:

The average full-time employee wastes 2.1 hours per day on non-producing tasks such as waiting for instructions, personal phone calls, surfing the internet, socializing with co-workers, smoke breaks, going to the washroom, and playing computer games.  This means that getting those 2.1 hours back costs you an additional 33% more in total labor costs every day!

So what do you think about those “hidden fees” now?  It certainly makes a good argument for hiring an off-site contractor whenever humanly possible.  And technology has enabled us to perform most administrative tasks without ever needing to come in to the office.  So what are you waiting for?