Virtual assistant guide

Hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines

The Philippines is one of the world's big outsourcing hubs: its IT-BPM industry employed about 1.9 million people in 2025. Here's what a Filipino virtual assistant costs, which hours they work for US, UK and Australian teams, and what to know about paying them.

IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) (opens in a new tab), 2025 figures

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What a Filipino VA costs

Full-time salary, as workers report it
$480–2,000/month

Beginner $480–900, mid-level $800–1,100, expert $1,200–2,000. OnlineJobs.ph salary guide (opens in a new tab), updated April 2026

Freelance rate on Upwork, all VAs
$10–20/hr

Typical range with a $13 median. Upwork says Philippines-based freelancers often sit at the lower end of that range for general admin work. Upwork, Philippines VA page (opens in a new tab), checked Oct 2026

Local salary, Philippine employers
₱27,225/month

What local companies advertise for VA jobs, not what foreign clients pay. Indeed Philippines, local job postings (opens in a new tab), Oct 2026

For context only: Metro Manila's minimum wage for non-agriculture work is ₱755 a day. It's a legal floor for local employees, never a guide to what you should pay.

DOLE Wage Order NCR-28 (opens in a new tab), from 26 Sep 2026

Working hours from Manila

Manila is UTC+8 and never changes its clocks, so only your side moves. Australian mornings fall in Manila's day; a US workday is Manila's night shift.

A 9-to-5 in your time zone, in Manila time
Your 9-to-5In Manila, your standard timeIn Manila, your summer time
US Eastern 9-to-510 pm to 6 amEST9 pm to 5 amEDT
London 9-to-55 pm to 1 amGMT4 pm to midnightBST
Sydney 9-to-57 am to 3 pmAEST6 am to 2 pmAEDT, October to April

Every profile shows which business hours the person covers. IANA time zone database (opens in a new tab), checked Oct 2026

How we test Filipino VAs

EF's English Proficiency Index ranks the Philippines 28th of 123 countries, in its “high” band. It's based on people who chose to take EF's test, so it's a rough guide. Here you see each person's own tested band.

EF English Proficiency Index (opens in a new tab), 2025 edition

English
Read a client's email, answer five questions about it and write a reply of 80 to 150 words. AI grades the reply for grammar, clarity, tone and whether it answers the email. The result is a CEFR band from A2 to C2 with a score out of 100.
Typing
A 60-second passage written like a weekly update to a client. Scored on words per minute and accuracy, with 5 characters counted as a word. Only correct characters count.
Virtual assistant quiz
Six situations from a VA's week, like booking one call across New York, London and Sydney, spotting a fake invoice and getting a full inbox under control, plus a short written reply to a client. Scored out of 100.
ID check
A person on our team checks a government ID against a selfie. The images are deleted after review.
Angelica R., example profile

Angelica R.

Virtual assistant, Philippines

English C2
91
Typing
72wpm
Virtual assistant quiz
89
Example profile. Real profiles show the same three scores, each with the date of the test.

Paying a Filipino VA

The 13th-month question

Philippine law makes employers give rank-and-file employees a 13th-month pay of at least one twelfth of the year's basic salary, by 24 December. It generally doesn't cover independent contractors.

General information, not legal or tax advice.

Hire Direct, $79 a month
Request intros, then pay your VA directly, in the way you both agree.
Done For You, their pay plus $399 a month
StaffPick pays them for you and replaces them free if it doesn't work out.

Tested Filipino VAs on StaffPick

Live profiles. Each person passed the tests above, and we reviewed the profile before it went live.

Questions about hiring in the Philippines

Still unsure? Contact us. A person reads every message.

OnlineJobs.ph's April 2026 guide lists $480–900 a month full-time for a beginner VA, $800–1,100 mid-level and $1,200–2,000 for an expert, from figures workers report. Upwork puts typical VA rates at $10–20 an hour with a $13 median, and says Philippines-based freelancers often sit at the lower end for general admin work. Job ads from local employers on Indeed Philippines show ₱27,225 a month: that's a local salary, not what foreign clients pay.

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Hire Direct is $79 a month when you want intros.