The Philippines has quietly become the virtual assistant capital of the world. Right now, about 1.5 million Filipinos are working as VAs for international clients. That’s roughly 13% of the entire global VA workforce, all coming from one country.
If you’re thinking about hiring remotely or you’re already managing a Filipino team, understanding what roles are actually common helps you know what to look for and how to structure your team properly.
This isn’t just about finding someone to answer emails. The VA market in the Philippines has evolved into something much more specialized.
Why Companies Choose Filipino Virtual Assistants Over Other Countries
Cost matters, obviously. Most Filipino VAs charge between $5 and $15 per hour, often less than a third of what you’d pay for the same work in the US. Price alone doesn’t explain why the Philippines specifically became the go-to country for this kind of work.
English proficiency stands out as a major factor. About 69% of Filipino workers write fluently in English, and 55% speak it fluently higher than most countries where English isn’t the first language.
Philippine schools teach in English, and most media consumption happens in English too. Customer-facing roles and anything involving written communication benefit enormously from this advantage.
Cultural alignment with Western business practices makes working with Filipino VAs smoother than other offshore options. Filipino workers understand American holidays, adjust their schedules to match US time zones, and grasp how US companies operate.
Decades as a US territory left behind a business culture that feels familiar to American and most western companies.
Top Virtual Assistant Jobs For Filipino Remote Workers
Now let’s get into what people are actually hiring for. These are the jobs that consistently show up in postings and employer surveys. Here are the most common roles:
Administrative and Executive Assistant
Administrative VAs handle calendar management (setting virtual meetings, etc), email correspondence, travel plan coordination, taking meeting notes, and organizing digital files.
Executive assistants take things further by managing more complex coordination, handling confidential information, and acting as a gatekeeper for busy executives. Many prepare reports, help manage projects, and coordinate between different departments.
Every business needs administrative support, and handing off these tasks to someone remote is relatively straightforward. Good organizational skills and attention to detail are really all that matter here.
Customer Service and Support
Customer service dominates the Filipino VA market. Filipino VAs handle live chat support, email tickets, phone support, order processing, and even appointment setting for healthcare clinics.
The massive and well-established BPO industry in the Philippines created a deep talent pool of people who already know how to handle customer interactions professionally.
Workers understand tone, de-escalation, and how to follow support scripts without sounding robotic.
Data Entry Specialist
Data entry might sound basic, but companies consistently hire for it as one of their top roles. The virtual assistant updates databases, maintains CRM systems, transcribes audio or video files, and input information from various sources into spreadsheets or documents.
Work like this takes time but doesn’t require someone with a $40k salary to do it.
Social Media Managee
Social media has become one of the fastest-growing VA roles. These VAs plan and schedule content, engage with followers, respond to comments and messages, run basic ad campaigns, and pull analytics reports.
This role sits somewhere between creative and administrative work. It requires creativity for content ideas but also consistency and organization to maintain a posting schedule.
Many social media VAs also handle basic graphic design using tools like Canva to create posts too.
E-commerce Operations
Many virtual assistants specialize in specific platforms like Amazon, Shopify, eBay, and even lesser known ones such as Faire. They know the quirks of each platform, how to optimize listings for search, and how to handle the backend operations that keep an online store running.
This role has grown as e-commerce exploded during and after the pandemic. The need for backend support didn’t go away when things reopened.
If anything, it increased as more businesses committed to selling online permanently.
Graphic Design and Creative Work
Most businesses need design work regularly but can’t afford a full-time designer. Filipino creative VAs fill that gap perfectly.
Workers are often trained and certified in software like Adobe Creative Suite or use simpler tools like Canva and Figma. Quality varies widely based on experience and skill level.
A large pool of talented designers in the Philippines studied design formally or learned through online courses and years of freelance work.
Bookkeeping
Financial VAs process invoices, track expenses, manage payroll for small remote teams, reconcile accounts, and prepare financial reports using tools like QuickBooks, Xero, or MYOB.
These aren’t usually fully licensed accountants unless you fully specified it on your job posting, but they handle the day-to-day bookkeeping tasks that every business needs.
This role requires more training and trust than most VA positions since they’re handling sensitive financial information.
Real Estate Administrator
Real estate has its own specialized VA category. These VAs update CRM systems, make outbound calls to leads, schedule property showings, prepare documents for agents, coordinate with clients, and handle administrative tasks specific to real estate transactions.
Many Filipino VAs in this space work for real estate investors, agents, or brokers in the US. They know the terminology, understand the sales cycle, and can handle initial lead qualification before passing serious prospects to the agent.
Content Creation Writing
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The rise of content marketing created demand for people who can produce written content consistently and use tools to optimize them for SEO.
Filipino VAs often have strong writing skills and can match different brand voices once they understand what you’re looking for.
Content repurposing has become its own specialty. A VA might take a podcast episode and turn it into a blog post, social media quotes, an email newsletter, and reels. This helps companies get more mileage out of content they’ve already created.
Technical and IT Support
Tech VAs maintain WordPress sites, update plugins, perform quality assurance testing, troubleshoot basic technical issues, manage support tickets, and report bugs.
They’re not usually full software developers, but they have enough technical knowledge to handle routine maintenance and first-level support.
This role requires more technical aptitude than most VA positions. VAs in this space usually have some background in IT or have taught themselves through online learning and hands-on experience.
HR and Recruitment Assistant
HR assistants typically screen resumes, schedule interviews, send follow-up emails to candidates, handle initial phone or virtual screening, coordinate onboarding paperwork, and maintain applicant tracking systems.
They don’t usually make final hiring decisions, but they handle the time-consuming parts of recruitment that slow down the hiring process.
This role has grown as remote hiring became more common. Companies realized they could outsource the administrative side of recruitment without sacrificing quality in their final hires.
Legal Administrative
Some VAs specialize in legal support tasks like formatting contracts, grant writing or maintaining case files.
They’re not lawyers and they’re not giving legal advice, but they handle the administrative and research tasks that law firms and legal departments need done.
This is a smaller niche compared to other VA roles, but it exists and serves a specific need for companies that have ongoing legal work but don’t need a full-time para legal.
How to Build Your Remote Team with Filipino VAs
Filipino VAs excel at common roles because of established talent pipelines, training resources, and years of collective experience.
The virtual assistant market in the Philippines keeps growing as remote work becomes more permanent and companies get comfortable with distributed teams.
Ready to manage your Filipino team properly? ManagePH handles time tracking, payroll, compliance, PTO, and invoicing for your remote workers in the Philippines.
Get started today and stop juggling multiple tools to manage your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary for a Filipino virtual assistant?
Filipino virtual assistants typically earn between $800 to $1,800 per month, depending on their role and experience level. Entry-level administrative VAs usually start around $800 monthly ($5-6 per hour), while specialized roles like bookkeeping, graphic design, or technical support can command $1,200-$1,800 monthly ($8-15 per hour).
What are the most in-demand virtual assistant roles from the Philippines?
The most common Filipino VA roles include administrative and executive assistance, customer service and support, data entry and research, social media management, e-commerce operations (especially for Amazon and Shopify), graphic design and creative work, bookkeeping and accounting support, real estate support, content creation and repurposing, technical and IT support, HR and recruitment assistance, and specialized legal support.
Do I need to withhold taxes or provide benefits when hiring a Filipino VA?
No, US companies hiring Filipino VAs do not have Philippine tax withholding obligations. The Philippine government classifies VAs working for foreign clients as self-employed freelancers, not employees. Filipino VAs are responsible for filing their own taxes with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) using Form 1701. From the US perspective, Filipino VAs are foreign independent contractors. You simply need to collect a W-8BEN form from each contractor to document their foreign status. .