All growing United States-based businesses reach a point when they need to hire more people to handle the additional workload. The natural solution is to create and post a job ad to hire a new full-time employee, but this is no longer the only viable option for businesses.
The virtual assistant vs full-time employee debate has become one of the most common hiring questions for U.S.-based founders, operations managers, and small business owners, considering the shift towards remote work and the availability of skilled talent internationally. The question of whether to hire a virtual assistant or a traditional employee is one of the primary challenges businesses face regarding their staffing and hiring decisions, and as such, it is worth discussing the key differences at length.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the key differences between a virtual assistant and a full-time employee, how the cost comparisons break down, and when it makes more sense to go with one over the other.
What is the real difference between a virtual assistant and an employee?
An employee refers to a person who works exclusively for your company, either as an in-office worker or as a remote hire, and who comes with the additional implications of payroll, benefits, equipment and space.
A virtual assistant, meanwhile, is a remote employee who is either hired directly or through a virtual assistant agency, and who works for you on a part-time, full-time, or project-by-project basis, without being added to your company’s payroll. Virtual assistants typically manage specific responsibilities, tasks, or projects for you, and bring their own workspace and equipment with them.
The primary difference between the two lies in the commitment level – employees are more committed long-term, while virtual assistants offer more flexibility. The difference also affects the expenses – while a virtual assistant typically only charges an hourly or monthly service fee, an employee comes with additional overhead expenses that may affect the bottom line. Finally, the nature of the work differs significantly, as a full-time employee may be required to fulfill a variety of roles inherently, while a virtual assistant is generally only hired to tackle a particular set of responsibilities.
How the cost compares: VA vs. employee
This is usually the deciding factor for small and mid-sized businesses. A U.S.-based full-time hire doesn’t just cost a salary — it costs a salary plus everything around it.
| FACTOR | FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE | VIRTUAL ASSISTANT |
| Base compensation | Market salary | Hourly or monthly service fee |
| Payroll taxes | Employer-paid | Not applicable |
| Benefits (health, PTO, retirement) | Employer-paid | Not applicable |
| Office space and equipment | Employer-provided | Self-provided |
| Onboarding and training time | Weeks to months | Days to weeks |
| Termination process | Formal, often costly | Simple contract adjustment |
When you add it up, many businesses find that outsourcing vs. hiring employees for support functions — admin, scheduling, customer service, data entry and bookkeeping — cuts costs by 30 percent to 70 percent, without sacrificing quality when the right partner is chosen.
When does it make sense to hire an employee instead?
A virtual assistant is not the end-all solution to all staffing and hiring needs, and a reliable virtual assistant agency will be the first to admit. Full-time employees are a necessity whenever the role requires a high-level of institutional knowledge that is deeply tied to the internal workings of an organization. Employees are also required when the location of the person matters – for instance, for retail and warehouse roles, as well as for roles that require a physical presence for client-facing purposes.
Full-time employees should also be considered for roles that require strategic decision-making or authority, and for any roles in which long-term equity or ownership is a consideration. For all other roles, however, a virtual assistant will be the better choice due to their flexibility, cost-efficiency, and ability to deliver reliably.
What tasks are best suited for a virtual assistant?
U.S. businesses are increasingly turning to virtual assistants to cover a variety of essential but tedious or time-consuming work, including email and calendar management, customer support and live chat, social media scheduling and coordination, data entry and CRM management, bookkeeping and invoicing support, research, lead generation and appointment setting, and executive and administrative services.
These types of tasks are generally well-suited to a virtual assistant due to their mechanical and process-driven nature, and due to the flexibility and speed a VA brings to the table – this is why virtual assistant companies have risen to prominence as a staffing solution in recent years.
How do you choose between a virtual assistant and an employee?
A business should ask itself the following questions before making the VA call:
- Is this for a strategically important role or task, or is it an operational one? Strategic roles are best filled by employees, while operational ones are best filled by virtual assistants.
- Do I need this task or role to be completed full-time? If a role requires a flexible workload, a virtual assistant will be a better fit.
- Can I afford to hire a U.S.-based employee right now? Virtual assistants offer a lower barrier to entry and reduce the overall financial burden significantly.
- Do I need the task or role to be completed by someone physically present in the office? Virtual assistants generally cannot fulfill this requirement, and so such roles should be filled by traditional employees.
- How soon do I need this role to be filled? Virtual assistants can generally be hired faster than employees, especially if the business uses an established virtual assistant agency that can quickly identify and onboard the right person for the role.
For many businesses in the U.S., the best solution is to build a lean core team of employees and supplement them with a rotating pool of virtual assistants to handle more flexible or time-intensive tasks as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
1] Is a virtual assistant as reliable as a full-time employee?
Yes, but only so long as you know what to look for when hiring a virtual assistant or outsourcing your hiring needs to a reliable virtual assistant agency.
2] Can a virtual assistant work U.S. business hours?
Yes, so long as the virtual assistant or the agency they are hired from is aware of the time zone requirements.
3] Is it cheaper to hire a VA than an employee?
Yes, for most practical purposes.
4] Can a VA eventually take on more responsibility, like an employee would?
Yes, they certainly can, and they often do.
Ready to hire a virtual assistant instead of a full-time employee?
The virtual assistant vs. full-time employee decision is rarely a binary one, and it is always informed by the context of the particular task or role in question. While a virtual assistant is a great fit for all operational and task-based roles, traditional employees will always be necessary whenever a strategic, onsite, or long-term commitment is involved.
At Flat Planet, we can help U.S.-based businesses explore virtual assistants in America and navigate the complexities of the virtual assistant vs. full-time employee decision, then identify the best fit based on their particular role and staffing needs, ensuring they can enjoy the benefits of a virtual assistant without compromising on the reliability and quality of service. If you’re ready to explore whether a virtual assistant is right for your business, contact us today to get started.
