The Financial Advantages of Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Here’s a comparison between hiring an employee versus hiring a Virtual Assistant - and the financial advantages you get for  hiring a VA!

First, a question for you.  Is your business growing to such an extent that you feel you will need to hire another employee?  Well congratulations, if that’s the case!  At this point, you have some options.  Believe it or not, hiring a Virtual Assistant, like us, Fylde Virtual Assistants, is going to be cheaper for you, than taking on a new permanent member of staff!

Before making the decision between hiring a full-time employee or a virtual assistant, however, consider the benefits that a VA like us may be able to bring to a business like yours.

Assuming you were to hire someone for 35 hours per week at £11.50 per hour, or even at £11.60 per hour, to more than adhere to the National Minimum Wage Law, it would cost you about £402.50 to £406.00 per week to pay that person (or between £20,930 to £21,112.00 a year, to begin with).

Apart from their wages, there are the hidden costs you need to factor in such as the National Insurance contributions on their behalf (which has jumped from 13.8% to 15% [Changes to National Insurance Contributions from April 2025]), the costs and time involved to advertise for their role, the time spent interviewing and selecting the suitable candidate, plus, if you decide to use a recruitment agency, you would have to pay their fees too. And of course, once you find a suitable candidate, you will have to train up that person too.

There are also other additional costs for Holiday Pay, Training costs, Equipment, IT, office space costs, and pensions contributions for the employee, or the possibility of Maternity or Paternity Leave pay. 

And what if you knew that the modern workplace has steadily been experiencing an increased absence rate since 2019 due to sickness?  This is now estimated to be as high as 55%!

Moreover, it is estimated that nearly one in four workers plan to leave their current jobs in 2025. This was according to predicted attrition data acquired from 10 million employees in the UK.  A further 13% do not see themselves working for their current employer in the long term, until 2026.

So, have you considered what return you will get after all the time and money you have invested in a new employee?

The employee experience provider Culture Amp [https://www.cultureamp.com] have estimated that the cost of replacing an employee starts at 30% of an average employee’s salary.  Is it worth investing that much in a new employee who may or may not even stay?

In comparison, Virtual Assistants, like us at Fylde VA, can offer you an alternative.  We work to targets, we are flexible, and with us, you will not be tied-in to a long-term contract.  If you want 20 hours’ worth of work, then you will get 20 hours of pure work. And, if it’s not a busy period for you, then it won’t be a problem either, as you can scale down this number down, to say, 10 hours’ worth of work, if that’s all you need. With VAs like us, you will not have to pay us if we stop to chat to someone, make personal or comfort calls, or attend medical appointments, and the like.

With the recent budget granting National Minimum and Living Wage Increases, and Employer National Insurance rises, together with the Workers’ Rights Bill, which now includes Flexible Working, as well as Maternity and Paternity and Sick Leave from day one, it could cost businesses as much as £5 billion a year!  So, hiring a VA, only as and when you need them, can truly become a more viable alternative to hiring full-time staff.

Please rest assured, Fylde Virtual Assistants will put you, our customer, first every time.  You can rest easy, in the knowledge that by working with us, you can trust that we will treat your business as if it were our own.  You, as our customer (and your customers), will get nothing but the highest level of service from us, receive open and constant communication (or as much / as little communication as you prefer), to ensure you remain satisfied with the work we’re doing for you.

Above all, we hope to leave you with more free time to do the bigger, more important things that you feel need your attention, to grow your business, or perhaps, more precious time to spend with your family. 

We’re putting our money where our mouth is, so if you want to consider your current workload and commitments and identify which tasks you do on a regular basis, that you feel would be beneficial to delegate, we’ll give you 50% off a one hour’s trial task, if you sign up for this through the link below!

Acknowledgements:

N.B.  Our thanks to Culture Amp for their permission to quote their findings.

We have also utilised the figures on the gov.uk website regarding the changes to the National Insurance contributions and the Minimum Wage.