Why Hiring an Executive Assistant Ethically Is the Smartest Business Decision You’ll Make

Jul 22

When it comes to growing your business, having the right executive assistant (EA) can be the difference between thriving and burning out. But how you hire that support matters just as much as who you hire.

At Lift Business Resources, we’ve built a hiring model rooted in ethical employment, fair wages, and long-term support. We believe every business owner should consider these factors before bringing on an EA or virtual assistant. Here’s why.

Why We Employ Our Assistants

Many business owners turn to independent contractors or freelance marketplaces for admin support, but there’s a hidden cost:

High turnover – Contractor churn rates average 30–50% per year. Burnout is common because freelancers often juggle multiple clients without any real support system.
Tax burden on families – Many of our team members are parents or caregivers working part-time. As independent contractors, they’d face up to 30% in taxes, sometimes pushing their families into higher tax brackets. That’s a deal-breaker for many, forcing talented workers to quit.
Lost time and retraining – We’ve had countless clients come to us after losing a freelancer who ghosted or burned out, costing them weeks (or months) in retraining and lost productivity.

Our solution? We hire our executive assistants as employees. That means:

Stability & mentorship – They’re part of a team, not on their own.
Fair wages & benefits – Because people doing employee-level work deserve employee-level protections.
Long-term relationships – When an EA feels supported, they stick around.

Why We Don’t Offshore Our Executive Assistant Services

Offshoring to overseas virtual assistant firms may look cheaper upfront, but it often comes with trade-offs:

Unethical pay practices – Many VA firms pay workers as little as $3–$5 an hour while charging clients $15–$20.
Communication & consistency issues – Clients often report being bounced between multiple assistants or dealing with disappearing act scenarios.
Privacy & training concerns – Overseas teams may not follow the same standards for data security or onboarding.

At Lift, we’re proud to keep our team U.S.-based and fully employed. This ensures:

Consistent, accountable support
Strong communication & cultural alignment
Peace of mind knowing your EA is well-trained and fairly paid

Ethical Hiring = Smarter Business

Hiring ethically isn’t just “the right thing to do”, it’s also good business. Turnover costs U.S. businesses thousands of dollars per employee lost. When you invest in an EA who’s fairly paid, properly trained, and supported by a team, you protect your time, money, and energy.

And there’s a bigger impact, too. Many of our executive assistants are women balancing caregiving or re-entering the workforce. By employing them, we’re not just filling admin roles, we’re creating flexible, dignified work for people who need and want it.