Author:
Vincent Mijares
A full-time US private-industry employee costs employers an average of $54 an hour in wages and benefits, or about $112,000 a year, according to June 2026 Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s before office space, equipment, and a recruiting cost of about $5,475 per hire. A Philippines-based remote assistant typically costs $5 to $17 an hour, or about $10,400 to $35,400 a year full time. In-house staff still win on face-to-face collaboration and direct oversight. Remote staff win on cost, flexibility, and access to talent. Delegate’s dedicated assistants start at $13 an hour, with recruiting, onboarding, payroll, and benefits included.
For business owners, one of the biggest decisions is whether to hire remote staff or build an in-house team. Both options affect your finances, your team’s productivity, and your company culture.
Here’s what each option costs in 2026, using current government data, and what the numbers leave out.
US In-House Employee |
Philippines-Based Remote Staff |
Delegate Dedicated Assistant | |
|---|---|---|---|
Hourly cost to employer
|
$54.00 average (full-time, private industry)
|
About 5–17
|
From $13
|
Annual cost, full time (2,080 hrs)
|
About $112,300
|
About 10,400–35,400
|
From about $27,000
|
Benefits
|
Included in figure above (31.5% of cost)
|
Depends on hiring model
|
Pay and benefits handled by Delegate
|
Office space and equipment
|
Extra
|
None
|
None
|
Recruiting
|
About $5,475 per hire
|
Handled by you, unless using a managed provider
|
Included
|
Replacement if it doesn't work out
|
Start recruiting again
|
Start recruiting again, unless managed
|
Free while you're a client
|
Sources: BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (released September 9, 2026); SHRM 2025 benchmarking; Delegate’s 2026 pricing guide. The BLS figure averages all occupations, and admin roles usually pay less than the average, so use your own role’s salary where you have it.
Wages and benefits. In June 2026, full-time private-industry workers cost employers an average of $54.00 per hour worked, according to the BLS. Wages made up 68.5% of that, and benefits like health insurance, paid leave, and retirement made up the other 31.5%.
A simpler rule of thumb for your own numbers: a US hire usually costs 1.25 to 1.4 times their base salary once payroll taxes and benefits are added. Our 2026 pricing guide breaks this down by role and country.
Office space and equipment. Every on-site employee needs a desk, a computer, and a share of rent and utilities. The cost varies widely by city.
Recruiting. SHRM’s 2025 benchmarking puts the average cost per hire at about $5,475, before the time it takes to train someone new.
Lower compensation rates. Many businesses hire from countries with lower living costs. A Philippines-based virtual assistant typically costs $5 to $17 an hour, depending on role and experience. That’s about $10,400 to $35,400 a year for full-time work.
Lower overhead. Global Workplace Analytics has estimated that a typical US employer saves about $11,000 a year for each employee who works remotely half the time, through lower real estate costs, less absenteeism, and lower turnover. The estimate is based on 2017 data, but the logic holds: less office space means less overhead.
Flexible team size. Remote staff can often be hired on flexible terms, which makes it easier to adjust your team as the business changes.
Watch for hidden costs. A very low hourly rate can cost more in the end if it comes with poor vetting, no backup, and constant turnover. Here’s where “cheap” help gets expensive.
Benefits of in-house employees
Benefits of remote staff
In-house teams build community more easily through daily face-to-face contact.
Remote teams need culture to be built on purpose: regular check-ins, clear communication rules, and recognition for good work. With that structure in place, a remote team can work as one unit. Without it, remote staff can end up feeling like outsiders. Documented processes and clear expectations do much of this work.
In-house hiring takes time and money: job posts, interviews, background checks, and training, at about $5,475 per hire on average.
Remote hiring brings its own challenges, like testing whether someone works well independently and setting up secure access to your systems. You can handle it yourself, or use a managed provider that takes care of recruiting, vetting, and onboarding. The difference between managed and freelance hiring matters most here, and so does what a “managed” fee actually includes.
Either way, three steps make remote hiring work:
1. Test with real work, not just interviews. Structured vetting catches problems a friendly call won’t.
2. Plan the first month. A 30-day onboarding plan gets a new hire working independently faster.
3. Set up access properly. Scoped, revocable access protects your data from day one.
If you’re hiring in the Philippines directly, this guide covers how to hire and pay safely.
Choose in-house employees if your work needs a physical presence, constant face-to-face collaboration, or real-time supervision.
Choose remote staff if you want lower costs, flexible team size, access to a wider talent pool, or coverage outside your own working hours.
Many growing businesses use both: in-house staff for roles that need to be on-site, and remote staff for admin, customer support, bookkeeping, and operations. This comparison for startup founders walks through that choice for an admin hire specifically, and this older piece looks at outsourcing versus in-house hiring more broadly.
A full-time US private-industry employee costs employers an average of $54 an hour, or about $112,000 a year, including benefits (BLS, June 2026). A Philippines-based remote assistant typically costs $5 to $17 an hour, or about $10,400 to $35,400 a year full time.
Benefits, which make up about 31.5% of total compensation for full-time workers, plus office space, equipment, and recruiting, which averages about $5,475 per hire.
The evidence is mixed. In Owl Labs’ 2022 survey, 62% of workers said they feel more productive working remotely, and Owl Labs also found remote workers report being 22% happier in their jobs. Actual productivity depends more on clear goals and good processes than on location.
Less face-to-face time, more effort needed to build culture, time zone coordination, and the work of vetting and onboarding someone you haven’t met in person. A managed provider can take on much of that.
Yes, and many businesses do. Keep roles that need a physical presence in-house, and hire remote staff for admin, support, bookkeeping, and operations.
That’s roughly the gap between the average full-time US employee and a full-time Delegate assistant. It’s money you could put into growth, marketing, or the next key in-house hire.
Delegate places dedicated, vetted assistants from the Philippines starting at $13 an hour, with recruiting, onboarding, SOP consultation, payroll, and benefits included. You’ll see up to 5 candidates within 7 to 14 days, and if the fit isn’t right, replacement is free for as long as you’re a client.
Book a strategy call and we’ll run the numbers for the role you’re thinking about hiring.
