Part of our guide: How much can an offshore assistant save you?
Savings claims in outsourcing are often inflated. Here's a formula you can fill in with your own numbers. It is part of our guide to offshore assistant cost savings.
What is the full cost of a US hire?
Start with salary, then add what employers pay on top. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that benefits made up 29.8% of total compensation for private-industry workers in June 2025 (BLS ECEC). Then add recruiting, equipment, software seats, office space if any, and the cost of turnover.
Fully loaded US cost = salary ÷ (1 − benefits share) + recruiting + equipment + space + turnover allowance
For reference, the BLS median annual wage for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants was $76,590 in May 2025 (BLS OOH). Use your local market's number, not the national median, if you have it.
What does the offshore option cost?
Use the provider's all-in quote: assistant, management, replacement and any setup fee. Add the software seats you'd pay for either way, and your own management time (usually higher in the first month).
How do you count the value of time you get back?
This is the bigger number for most leaders. Estimate hours per week you'll stop spending on delegated work, multiply by what an hour of your time is worth to the business, and be conservative: count only hours you'll actually redeploy to selling, managing or building.
Annual value of time = hours reclaimed per week × 48 weeks × value per hour
Putting it together
Net benefit = (fully loaded US cost − offshore cost) + value of time reclaimed − extra management time
If you're comparing against doing nothing (not hiring at all), drop the first term and compare offshore cost with the value of time reclaimed.
What makes the estimate wrong?
- Assuming every reclaimed hour becomes revenue.
- Ignoring ramp-up: expect lower output in weeks one to three.
- Forgetting coverage for holidays and leave.
Try our cost calculator for an estimate, and read the cost of not delegating.
Want a dedicated assistant who already knows this playbook?
ExecWing places full-time, managed assistants from the Philippines with US leaders. Month-to-month, from $1,900/mo. See pricing or how it works.
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