According to the London Evening Standard, VAs are the new PAs. As the recession as taken hold, hundreds of people have shaken off their power suits and adopted their pjs – working at home as a virtual assistants.
As more people move out of work and online, robots could take over in the office? Image courtesy of the noodleator via Flickr.
ER Virtual Assistants claim the top eight reasons to hire a virtual assistant are:
- Your Virtual Assistant can relieve you from the burden of what would be time-consuming busywork.
- Since the Virtual Assistant is a self-employed business partner, you do not pay payroll taxes, benefits, insurance, or workmen’s comp. Therefore, saving you money on employee expenses.
- Your Virtual Assistant has their own office and office equipment.
- You pay for time on task. Which means you pay for only time that is spent doing YOUR work. Great reduction in overhead expenses. “No water fountain chit chatter.”
- Your Virtual Assistant works behind the scenes allowing you the freedom to concentrate on building your business while all of your office support needs are being taken care of.
- Your Virtual Assistant is 100% invested in your company. Your success leads to their success.
- Virtual Assistants network. When you hire a Virtual Assistant, you get indirect access to that network of qualified and experienced professionals.
- Virtual Assistants are highly-trained in their niche. Performing duties that range from bookkeeping, data entry, marketing, general secretarial task, presentations, publications, etc
The list above suggests greater control of time and money; indeed, “no water fountain chitter chatter” (because every virtual assistant is going to be conscientious and avoid daytime TV, pointless cups of tea and procrastination…). While OfficialWire points out the insurance risks for those moving from full-time employment to virtual assistant roles, these roles limit opportunities for career development in a real environment?- as well as there being risks for the employer too?
While one VA admits she’s never even met one of her clients, it shows how cyber-life has replaced face-to-face convo in so many situations. Is this a good thing? The ultimate reason for interviewing people for employment is to meet candidates in the flesh; a lot can be said for body language and how people react under pressure.
A quick search on Google and “virtual assistant” pulls up hundreds of virtual assistant agencies, “why hire a VA” and “how to become a VA”. As hundreds move to virtual employment, how will this affect our social and employment skills? I couldn’t find a a single comment doubting whether moving online is really the best answer to the recession, redundancy and unemployment. Maybe only time will tell if VAs are really the new PAs once the pros and cons have been fully weighed up.
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