We mention this because these are the deciding factors on how much you should pay your virtual assistant. They’re your main competition when it comes to employing talent, and you need to study the tools they use in attracting people (hint: it’s not just money).Call Centers
Inevitably, call centers have become the metric for everyone’s salaries: whether an offer is as good as, or worse than you can get at a call center. I should know; I own one! When it comes to entry-level salaries, few local companies can trump the starter salaries offered at call center outsourcing companies: 16,000 ($375.00) PHP for an agent with a college degree and zero experience, and 12,000 ($283.00) for an agent with at least years 2 years in college and zero experience. This salary is before taxes, and comes with the standard benefits package: 13th-month pay, health coverage, life insurance, and partial payment of government benefits (social security, government loans, and medical cards).
It’s worth to mention that the offer jumps up when you get six months or two years worth of experience. outsourcing businessmen should mirror this, that is, virtual assistant rates should increase after the first 6 months.
Bigger companies offer as much as 25,000 PHP ($580.00) for as little as six months experience. Demand is so high that others offer signing bonuses, which range from between $500.00 to $800.00, some even give away gadgets, such as iPods and more.
Seems like a long way from $2500.00/month doesn’t it?
By now, you are probably thinking, “If they get paid so much at call centers, then how come they don’t all work at call centers?”
Two reasons, the first being that not all cities in the Philippines have call center outsourcing companies. Being huge investments, they are usually built in technology parks in the larger cities. If you don’t live in, or are within driving distance of these places, then you’ll have to move. And call center wages are usually not enough to cover the costs of moving, especially at starter wages.
Second is that working at a call center can be really stressful.
Call center attrition rate can be as high as 60% (although at my call center, it’s around 80%). Yes, you read that right: six out of ten agents will inevitably resign annually because they just can’t take working there anymore.
Despite the high salaries and lucrative sign up bonuses, call centers still remain on the bottom of the list of job prospects for most college graduates. Everyone knows how difficult the job can be.
To combat attrition, call centers give a lot of incentives: great medical coverage, group vacations, gift cards to reward attendance (yes, they get rewards just for turning up to work!), money for excellent team performance, rice subsidies for kick-ass individual performance…It’s not unheard of for some call centers to offer spa nights, movie nights, and theme park tickets!
Even then, that 60% attrition still exists. And call centers still keep cropping up, because they know that prime talent exists here. This is where they can get the best bang for their buck, and where else can you find people with amazing soft skills other than in the Philippines.
So here’s the challenge for you: when you determine the virtual assistant rate that you’re willing to shell off, think about what it is that you can offer that they won’t get at a call center?
Better work conditions? The chance to do more challenging tasks? The opportunity for growth?
The International Marketplace
The Philippines has been the outsourcing world’s best-kept secret for years, and it’s not just call centers that are aware of this.
For quite some time now, Filipino virtual assistants have been working on bidding sites such as Elance and Odesk, even before they hit the mainstream media in North America and Europe.
Suffice to say, you’re not the only person looking to hire. There are a lot of savvy entrepreneurs out there who have been successfully working with Filipino freelancers for years, and it’s a good idea to follow their lead. Prices in the international marketplace are incredibly diverse, with some offering virtual assistant rate of $1-2/hr. for VA’s with little or no experience to do drone work, to a VA rate of up to $8.50-$15/hr. for VA’s with more than five years experience.
Some say that the high-end values are inflated, while there are those who think virtual assistant services rates offered in the lower end of the spectrum to be atrocious. But given the wide range of pays to choose from, one thing is for sure, there’s something for everybody, provided you play your cards right.
The trend on bidding sites is that: the more experienced employers attract the more experienced freelancers. Likewise, first time employers who have no idea what they are doing, will most likely attract other beginners. Meanwhile, a skuzzy employer will attract no one.
