Virtual Assistant Shortage
After listening to Scott Hanselman’s interview with Timothy Ferriss, I was intrigued by the Virtual Assistant concept. This is, basically, hiring a personal assistant, but one who works where labour is less expensive.
There are companies that have sprung up to act as intermediaries between you and your virtual assistant, providing things like a pool of resources with a single point of contact (who is fluent in English), so that the set of skills available is diverse and there’s coverage for spikes in workload. Check out GetFriday’s model, it’s pretty fascinating.
Interestingly, GetFriday is experiencing a bit of a labour shortage. The sudden popularity of the Timothy’s book and the concept of virtual assistants is letting people around the world make use of the pool of available resources wherever they may be. Because of the additional demand, GetFriday’s rates have gone up from what the book quoted.
It’s been long said that there’s a huge untapped pool of talent in India and in other places around the world; so much outsourcing is based on this idea. But now that outsourcing is being made available to everyone and so many people are taking advantage of it, the pool is starting to shrink.
What I’d like to think will happen is that so many people will be using one or more VA’s that supply and demand will kick in, rates will go up, and instead of fighting a “who can work cheapest” battle, rates will start to equalize worldwide and maybe some of these jobs can come back home.
GetFriday’s starting hourly rate is greater than minimum wage in the US, so I can see this aready starting.
August 13th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Steve, While it is true that the Virtual Staffing Industry is experiencing phenominal growth, I am happy to say that we do not have a shortage at Team Double-Click, the leader in the Virtual Assisting Industry. We have a pool of over 23,000 VA’s with the majority of our VA’s in the US.
We work very much like a Bricks and Mortar staffing agency with the exception that our VA’s are Independent Contractors. Our VA’s can do everything from clerical and general office work to Management. To find out more, please visit us at http://www.teamdoubleclick.com. Thanks! ~Sandra Pearson
August 14th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Tim,
I do agree with Sandra that the Virtual Assistant industry is experiencing phenomenal growth. At VANA (VAnetworking.com), we have over 6,000 VAs ready to assist their clients with anything from administrative to websites to bookkeeping, etc. Clients submit RFPs and then hire the VA that they feel comfortable working with and who can supply the services the client requires.
You can take a look at http://www.vanetworking.com.
August 14th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Steve,
I must correct you, the concept of a virtual assistant is not to send work where labor is less expensive – Virtual Assistants are highly skilled and trained, Independent Contractors working from their own offices, often partnering with other businesses to help them succeed. VA’s have their own office equipment, necessary software, detailed skills set, and specific training to handle office management duties and serve as virtual office administrators to their clients.
True, there are many ‘off shore’ companies popping up to take what they can from the industry – and provide shotty services for lower rates. I guess if someone hires one of these companies they get what they pay for.
There are many great virtual staffing agencies in the US that pay their VA’s decent rates and turn out great work – and many vitual assistants hire subscontractors to assist them with work overloads. So, there are alternatives to hiring ‘off shore’ companies, and I hope that people know this.
Another thing I find curious – where did ‘Get Friday’ come up with their name? hmmmmm?
Nancy Brown – Owner – Virtual Gal Friday
August 14th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Hi Steve!
I agree with you – I hope that the people who jumped on the Tim Ferriss’ bandwagon and ran to India for contractors eventually come back here. :) I don’t think we’re experiencing a shortage here but rather people are being jaded by the idea of $5 an hour for a virtual assistant.
Luckily, most of the VAs who have been around for awhile have steady clients who wouldn’t trade us in for $5/hour no matter how many people popped up at that rate.
Sincerely,
Erin Blaskie
Business Services, ETC
http://www.bsetc.ca
July 29th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Great article on Virtual Assistants.