You’re trying to figure out whether to hire a full-time employee or bring on a virtual assistant. The math seems obvious at first. Then you start thinking about taxes, benefits, office space, and equipment. Suddenly, the numbers get messy.
Let me cut through this for you. I’ve built teams both ways. Here’s what actually costs what, and why the virtual assistant vs employee cost question matters more than you think.
What a Full-Time Employee Really Costs
Let’s say you want to hire someone at $45,000 per year. That’s your base salary number. Now add the real expenses.
Payroll taxes run 7.65 percent on your end (employer share of Social Security and Medicare). Health insurance costs between $6,000 and $12,000 annually depending on your plan. Workers’ compensation insurance adds 1 to 3 percent of payroll. Unemployment insurance runs roughly 2 to 3 percent. Then there’s workers’ comp, potential 401k matching, and time spent on HR administration.
Your actual cost is closer to $60,000 to $65,000 per year.
Add equipment. A laptop, monitor, software licenses, phone, office furniture. Another $2,000 to $5,000 upfront. Office space or remote space management. Training time before they’re productive. Ramp-up usually takes three months.
Now factor in turnover. The average cost to replace an employee is 50 to 200 percent of their salary. You’re looking at hiring, training, lost productivity, and institutional knowledge walking out the door.
What a Virtual Assistant Actually Costs
A virtual assistant through a service like Tanta Global Assist runs $15 to $30 per hour for Foundation-tier VAs, $25 to $40 for Specialized, and $35 to $50+ for Expert-level support. You pay only for hours worked.
Let’s do the math. A full-time VA working 40 hours per week at $20 per hour costs $800 per week, or $3,200 per month. That’s $38,400 per year.
You pay nothing else. No taxes. No benefits. No equipment. No office space. No insurance.
If your VA works 20 hours per week instead of 40, your cost drops to $19,200 per year. You scale up or down based on actual need. That flexibility is worth something real.
The Virtual Assistant vs Employee Cost Advantage
The VA cost comparison isn’t just about the hourly rate. It’s about control.
With a full-time employee, you’re committed. You pay them whether business is booming or slow. Sick days, vacation days, holidays—you’re still covering payroll. If you hire the wrong person, you’re stuck with a expensive, time-consuming separation process.
With a virtual assistant, you get a trial period. Tanta Global Assist offers a 2-week guarantee. If the match isn’t right, you move on. No legal paperwork. No severance. You find someone who actually fits your needs.
Hire VA or employee also depends on what work you need done. Administrative tasks, customer support, scheduling, data entry—these are exactly what VAs handle. Strategic decisions, client relationships that require your face in the room, legal work—these still need employees.
When to Hire Each One
Hire a full-time employee when the role is permanent and core to your business. When you need someone embedded in your company culture. When the work requires deep institutional knowledge or client relationships.
Hire a virtual assistant when you have defined, repeatable tasks. When you’re not sure if you need full-time coverage. When you want to test a function before building it out internally. When you need to scale without adding fixed costs.
Many smart business owners do both. They keep core strategy and client-facing roles as employees. They outsource hiring VAs for administrative work, content tasks, bookkeeping, and support functions. You get the flexibility of outsourcing plus the stability of key employees.
Start the Outsourcing vs Hiring Conversation
If you’re leaning toward a VA, you need systems. You need to know which tasks to delegate, how to train someone to do them right, and how to manage that person remotely.
The VA Delegation Toolkit gives you templates and checklists built by people who’ve actually done this. It’s $37 and saves you weeks of figuring this out on your own.
Take the Next Step
Stop guessing at whether this makes sense for your business. Get specific numbers for your situation.
Start Your Free VA Gap Report
It takes 10 minutes. You’ll see exactly where virtual assistants could save you money and give you time back. Every one of our VAs is TGA-certified and matched to your needs.
Published by Tanta Global Assist.