The best countries to hire a Virtual Assistant

Mary Jane Matalog
Sep 30, 2021
4 min read

Tired of carrying the weight of running a business all on your shoulders? Desperately looking for help but don’t have a lot to shell out? If you’re a busy entrepreneur stretching themselves too thin each day, hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) is one of the best things you can do for your business (and yourself).

When it comes to finding the perfect virtual assistant, don’t let geography limit your reach. You’ll find an abundance of talent in countries across the globe. So where can you find your perfect virtual assistant? Let us explore in detail the best countries for hiring a virtual assistant and the most popular services you can outsource.

Virtual assistants hold an incredible variety of skill sets. No matter which industry your business operates in, you will be able to find one right for the job. Globally, the United States hires the most number of VAs. US companies are quick to take advantage of ample qualified talent in developing countries who work at a fraction of the cost.

Apart from the United States, China, India, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and the Philippines have an extensive VA workforce across diverse work profiles.

Entrepreneurs looking for affordable solutions look to Asian countries – India, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and China. In fact, India and the Philippines have emerged as the top two destinations for outsourcing virtual assistant services. These two are a perennial source of talent. Apart from being highly educated, virtual assistants from these countries are adept at working with people of other nationalities and diverse cultures.

Philippines

Located at the crossroads of trade in South East Asia, Philippines has endured successive waves of colonization in recent centuries. It has leveraged this experience to become proficient in English, French and Spanish. This has made it one of the most preferred destinations worldwide for outsourcing, in particular from Spanish speaking countries.

So, why then would a business choose Filipinos over other offshore workers? A number of studies show that people in The Philippines, or Filipinos as they proudly call themselves, came out on the top, This is evidenced by the fact that there are Filipinos working in just about every country on the globe and this is not an accident. All countries that provide outsourced services can be technically savvy and outrageously skillful, but Filipinos have the edge when it comes to all the things that matter for a company.

India

India has long been a favorite outsourcing destination for technical activities, software development in particular. There are also plenty of virtual assistants operating in India, ranging from general VAs to specialists in accounting, web design, marketing, and other professional business activities.

India was one of the first countries to grab the chance to develop itself as the premier outsourcing location in the world. In the mid-1990s, Indian companies worked alongside US companies in Silicon Valley and today, the Indian outsourcing industry has matured to include virtual assistant services well beyond just the IT sector. The country offers a unique depth and breadth of skilled, English-speaking labor that other countries simply cannot match. With a strong US Dollar, India’s competitive advantage only increases with time.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has always been proactive in taking advantage of new employment opportunities and emerging trends. In addition, the country takes advantage of being the center of the Anglosphere. Indeed, being the birthplace of the English language allowed it to capitalize and corner a portion of the virtual assistance industry in record time.

Canada

Not far behind the United States, Canada’s much-touted multiculturalism has translated into benefits for its virtual assistance industry. In fact, having bi-lingual and even tri-lingual workers has allowed it to perform virtual assistance services for many other countries in their native languages, such as in South Korea, Japan and several European countries.

Australia

An essential part of the Anglosphere, Australia’s USP lies in the massive English proficiency it can offer. This coupled with the high professional standards of every Australian industry has allowed having a virtual assistance brand right from the get-go. Today, it is a preferred destination for businesses who want to hire affordable virtual assistants from a first world country.

United States

The United States is the mother ship for all virtual assistance services. Due to various economic upheavals in the past two decades, several thousand workers were laid off. Also, first time workers entering the economy were unable to find full-time jobs which their parents and grandparents could. This, combined with massive internet penetration, led to a mushrooming part-time industry where people could work from home and manage several commitments at once.

Singapore

Famed for its miracle economic growth, the service industry is the backbone of this city-state’s economy. Singapore is a seasoned player in providing VA services particularly real estate, inventory management and research

Malaysia

With its dynamic economy and a fast-growing urban population, Malaysia found itself in need of urgent jobs creation. Consequently, it focused on developing a robust outsourcing industry. Today, an increasing number of young people joining the workforce get a head start with providing the following virtual assistant services

Brazil

The official language in Brazil is Portuguese. This has significantly hampered the country’s efforts to attract clients interested in outsourcing from the English-speaking world. However, Brazil has made up for this handicap by focusing on providing technical VA services such as data entry and bookkeeping.

China

In recent years, China has worked tremendously hard to build English language proficiency in its people. Although it is still far behind India and the Philippines, it has managed to take the first steps in developing a VA industry. China specializes in administration, email management, and generation lead.