Is Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines Ethical?

If you're just looking for the cheapest labor and you don't care about working conditions, then yeah, maybe the ethics of this is super questionable. But if you're willing to be reasonable about it, then hiring a virtual assistant from the Philippines can be 100% ethical. And in fact, I would even say it's more than ethical. It is beneficial to both you and them. Is outsourcing to virtual assistants in the Philippines ethical? Let's talk about it, because there are some specific things you can do and specific things you should not do that to make sure this is ethical and to keep you from getting into any gray territory. I've been hiring people from the Philippines since 2005. And it's surprising how over time this question, is outsourcing ethical has changed? When I first started, I got it all the time. People were always asking, oh, is that ethical? Are you taking advantage of people? How do you feel good about yourself? How do you sleep at night? I used to get that question all the time. And it was obvious to me that the people asking the question had never experienced it, hired someone in the Philippines, they had never worked with someone overseas. They had no idea how it was changing that person's life. The more and more that I've done it, the less and less I could get asked the question. People have come to accept it. A lot of people have experienced it. They start to see, yeah, this is actually really good for the people in the Philippines and it's really good for you, the employer. But there are some specific things that you can do to be sure that you're being ethical with the people you're working with. When you do this well, it builds really good loyalty from people. It builds really good quality output from people because they like you and they want to keep their job. Both those things will help you build a strong reputation for your business because the work output that's being done comes from people who like what they're doing. They like you. And there's a feeling behind people who like their work versus people who just do it because they have to do it. All of this can create a win win for both your business and for the VA that you're outsourcing to. As you treat them fairly, they do fair work, both of your lives are enriched and improved. Let's talk about those specific principles that you can work with to make sure that you are ethically working with people in the Philippines. So the number one principle is fair pay. I see some people come into this and try and pay the absolute minimum possible I've seen job posts offering $1 an hour obviously is unreasonable and not very, very fair and unethical. And that's in 2024, 2025. I've seen that. Now usually I don't see it that low. Typically I see like $3 or $3.50 an hour, which is still pretty low even in the Philippines. So now how do you ensure that you're being ethical with your pay? Well, at onlinejobs PH salary we have a full pay scale and you'll understand how you should be paying people according to their experience. Where maybe $3 an hour, which is still probably too low, but it might work for someone who is a complete newbie who knows nothing. This is their first job out of college. Outside of that though, it starts to go up. And when you get into the $5 an hour range, you start to get more reasonable. And people in the Philippines start to be interested in that job and they're looking at this as a career and it's going to help them as they progress in their career. You get to the 6, 7, $8 an hour range, they're doing pretty well, $10 plus and that person is doing really well. In the Philippines, the next principle would be long term stable work. In the Philippines it is really hard to find a long term stable job. Very often jobs in the Philippines are on a contract basis. They have a contract with the employer and that contract is going to end on a specific date regardless of whether the work is done or not. That's just how they set up contracts. I don't really understand it, I just know that it exists. So someone who gets a job, they will have a contract for six months. When that contract ends, they have to go find another job. How can you make this better for them? Well, if you can provide a stable long term employment situation, all of a sudden that person doesn't have to go looking for work in six months. And now they can plan for a year from now as long as your job is stable. And when they can plan for a year from now, they can start putting money into savings. They can budget their spending accordingly. It really changes the way that people plan their lives and their families when they get long term stable work. That long term stable work also for your business provides security. If you know that you're going to provide stable job. And Filipinos are very loyal when given a good situation. You know that you can teach things to this person. You can give them responsibilities that you wouldn't give to someone locally who is maybe a lower end worker. And you know that at some point they're going to start looking for other work elsewhere because that's how the workforce is in the United States. So if you can provide a long term stable job, it's really a win win for them and for you. Next is don't just provide a dead end job. When you hire a virtual assistant, they're looking for a career, which means they want to be able to grow in that career, they want to be able to make more money, they want to get raises, they want to do a good job, they want to learn new skills. If you just provide a dead end where there's no potential for growth, then it's easier to slip into unethical practices because you start to see that person as less than human. Which is the next principle is recognize the person you're hiring is a person, they're human. They're going to have problems and families and needs and wants. And as an employer, part of your responsibility is to help them meet those needs and wants and goals in life. It's not just hiring a robot that they must just do their work and you're only going to pay this amount. And if they're not happy with it, then they can find another job. That's an unethical way of outsourcing. But when you show that you care about the person you're working with, you start to treat them differently. You start to care about how they're growing in their career. You start to care about what they're learning and the quality of their work. All of a sudden they feel important. You're getting good work, you're helping them to grow, their salary is going up. This is an ethical way of approaching outsourcing. Next is work life balance. Here in the US we talk about this all the time. We because so many people are so inclined towards working and working and working and not balancing their life. I'll get people asking me, are these people available 24,7. My answer is no, they're not available 24,7. They're people and they need to balance their lives and their work. And so are they available 24, 7? No. They should work their eight hour shift and then they should go and exercise and spend time with their family and eat and sleep. And the better you can help them provide work life balance, the more ethical your outsourcing will be. Next is follow local customs. The Philippines has their own customs. They don't take Thanksgiving off, they don't have Thanksgiving in the Philippines. But they do have a bunch of holidays of their own that they want to take off that you have no idea about when you first start. And you should probably try and figure out what those holidays are. If you follow local customs and local labor laws, you'll find you're a lot more ethical in your outsourcing. Now with the Philippines, there's not a lot to know. There's not really many labor laws that are required. But there are a couple things you should know. I'll just briefly touch on them at onlinejobs ph Holidays. You'll get examples of how paid time off is done and the specific holidays the Philippines has. The other culture that you should know about is the 13th month pay. Onlinejobs ph 13thmonth and you can find what this is. It's basically an extra month's pay one time in the year, paid in December, typically something you should know about. And if you do and you prepare for it well, it'll help you be more ethical in your outsourcing because this is part of their culture. So those are the principles around how you can make outsourcing more ethical. Now let's talk about the cost differences and why this really is ethical. The economic reality of the Philippines is they don't want to be called a third world country. They want to be called an emerging economy. But the minimum wage in the Philippines is somewhere around $144 per month. So that would be 144 US dollars for a month of full time work. Now that is minimum wage. It is too low. It is not enough to live off of. You can barely sustain life at that point. But an average wage in the Philippines would be somewhere between 400 and 800 US dollars per month. On the low end of that average, you have people that are still living with their parents. They're not doing very well, but they're living. And depending on where they are in life, if they're just free, fresh out of college, they might be happy with that for now. On the upper end of that average, you have people who are starting to move out, who are starting to buy or build their own house. They're not buying a car yet, but they're at least able to start their own family and do it on their own. So another part of this is the working environment in the Philippines. So typically in the Philippines, people commute to work. The only commute that I ever hear of is a two hour commute. Why it's two hours I don't know, but it always seems like commutes are two hours long. Well, if you commute One way, two hours. That's four hours out of your day and out of your life every single day. That is so much that when you outsource to a virtual assistant, all of a sudden they get to work from home and they get four hours back in their life. That's four hours with their family or with their kids or maybe doing more work to earn more money and sustain themselves. All of a sudden, not only is your outsourcing ethical, it's actually better than what they would otherwise get in the Philippines. Now, when you combine that with it's hard to find a job in the Philippines, it's hard to find a stable long term job. And if you're paying an average wage for a stable long term job where they're working from home and not having to commute four hours every day, you create a really good situation for this person who otherwise may not have had a job or may have had to travel to a different island away from their family and their wife and their kids in order to work and send money home. And now they're sitting supporting two different households in two different places. The money doesn't go nearly as far. It's a lot better situation for them when they work for a foreign boss as a virtual assistant, as a social media manager, as a programmer, as a designer, as a customer support person. It's a lot better for them in doing this than most of the work in the Philippines. And now they want to improve the they want to get better so they can keep their job, so they can do a better job for you, so they can get raises and promotions, so they can feel good about how they're contributing to the company. And while we're talking about the working environment, oftentimes in the Philippines, the working environment is really terrible. Places where people work, they're not treated well. Managers are often harsh and rude. Very often it's hot, there's no air conditioning. And you as an ethical boss can change this for them. You can be kind to the people you work with. You can help make sure they have air conditioning. You're already allowing them to not commute to work. You can be reasonable and fair in the hours worked and the paid time off and the holidays that they work. You can also offer some benefits that really are not offered very often in the Philippines. You can offer health insurance or help them pay for their Social Security. It's called SSS or their pagibig, which is a government owned loan program. You can treat them like they're part of your team rather than treating them as if they're an unimportant thing that exists to just do work. All of these things will make a big difference in their life experience, their work experience, how they want to contribute to your company, and typically is better than the conditions that they would experience working in the Philippines. So is outsourcing ethical? Yes, it is. Or it can be, as long as you're a fair and reasonable employer. If you're ready to start growing your business with virtual assistants from the Philippines, head to onlinejobs ph, where you can easily find high quality people who want to be loyal and contribute to your company, and where you can easily post a job today and get applicants today and hire someone tomorrow. Onlinejobs Phoenix.