Over the last couple of years, I think we’ve all noticed more business owners pausing before they hit post on their job adverts. Not because they don’t need support, but because hiring feels like such a bigger commitment than it used to – especially if you’re running a small business or working freelance.
Salaries have crept up, employer costs are growing, teams everywhere seem leaner and, for a lot of small businesses, 2026 isn’t the year for rushing into long-term commitments without thinking twice.
The automatic next step used to be simple – workload growing? Hire someone new. Now, the conversation sounds different. It’s more often, “Do I actually need an employee… or is there another way we can do this?”
At the same time (and probably not coincidentally), virtual assistant roles have quietly grown up. What was once seen by some as a flexible side hustle has developed into a far more structured, professional industry in its own right. More VAs are running as established businesses, working consistent hours, building long-term client relationships and investing properly in the foundations behind the scenes.
And the recent industry data reflects that, too. The UK sector is more established, more professional and more full-time than ever before. That steady shift is changing how small businesses think about support, too.
So the real question isn’t just ‘in-house or outsourcing?’ It’s ‘how are virtual assistant roles reshaping the way small businesses build their teams in the first place?’
The Cost of In-House Hiring in 2026
When people compare in-house support with outsourcing, the first thing that usually comes up is the salary. And yes, that matters, but it’s rarely the whole story.
Hiring someone internally isn’t just agreeing a wage and sending over a contract. There’s employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday pay, sick leave, equipment, software licences and all the little extras that stack up surprisingly quickly.
Even if your team works remotely, there’s still onboarding time, training and the general mental load of bringing someone new into your business.
For small businesses – especially freelancers or photographers whose workload often changes with the seasons – a permanent hire is a pretty big commitment.
The British Chambers of Commerce recently published data showing less than a quarter of businesses are actually planning to grow their team in early 2026, while most are expecting their staffing levels to stay exactly as they are... And it's the costs that remain one of the biggest pressures they’re facing right now.
That doesn’t mean businesses aren’t ambitious. It just means hiring decisions aren’t being made lightly.
For some businesses, hiring is absolutely the right move. But for many of the small business owners or freelancers that we work with, the hesitation isn’t about needing help; it’s about whether hiring an employee is the only way to get it.
And that’s where the conversation around virtual assistant jobs starts to shift. Not as a replacement for every role, but as a different (and often more flexible) way of structuring support.
The Professionalisation of Virtual Assistant Jobs
One of the biggest shifts I’ve seen over the last few years isn’t just in how businesses hire; it’s in how the VA industry itself has grown and developed alongside them.
For most of the VAs I see thriving, this isn’t something they’re doing around the edges of other work - it’s their own business and main source of income. That also means having clear working hours, contracts in place and insurance sorted, with structured onboarding and systems that protect both sides.
In fact, for the first time since the survey started, the UK Virtual Assistant Survey 2025 (SVA) reported that 2025 was the first year where “there are no VAs without any documentation in place.[1]”
That same survey also showed that the majority of UK virtual assistants now work 25 hours or more per week, with the largest group (30%) working 25–30 hours[2].
So it's really not just occasional help in the background anymore - it’s consistent, ongoing business support that’s trusted and relied on week after week.
As the industry grows, virtual assistant jobs stop looking like informal admin support and start looking far more like realistic alternatives to taking someone on payroll.
Virtual Assistant Jobs vs Traditional Admin Roles
When you strip it back, the difference between hiring someone in-house and outsourcing the same support usually isn’t about skill; it’s how that support fits into their business.
Traditional admin roles
An in-house admin can become an embedded part of your team who’s involved in the day-to-day. They get to know your systems, your clients and how your business runs. But they also often come with fixed hours, fixed costs and a level of commitment that doesn’t flex easily.
Virtual assistants
Virtual assistants tend to work a little differently. Support is usually agreed around a set number of hours or a retainer. If your workload increases, you can scale up. If it dips, you can adjust. You’re paying for an expert’s productive time rather than a contracted body in your office.
What that means in practice
For photography & small business clients like ours, that flexibility can make a big difference.
Wedding season often sees a massive surge in enquiries for a few months, with busier inboxes, shoots around the clock and editing queues stacking up. Then, suddenly, you hit a quieter period during the off-season later in the year. Having support that expands and contracts with the rhythm of your business feels very different to committing to a permanent role.
Hiring internally means going through recruitment, onboarding and training, and hoping you’ve found the right fit. Outsourcing to an established VA business often means stepping into processes that already exist - the systems are there, their boundaries are set, the expectations are super clear from the start, and you can start getting support much quicker.
Why Small Businesses Are Choosing Outsourcing First
Outsourcing isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ deal.
If your business needs someone sitting opposite you or working with you side-by-side on some big projects, in-house might make complete sense for you. But if what you really need is experienced support without the big payroll commitments, working with a virtual assistant starts looking less like an extra pair of hands and more like a smart staffing decision.
The latest from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests the average cost of recruiting and filling a vacancy in the UK sits at over £6,000… And that’s before you’ve even started paying wages and the extras like National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday pay, equipment and the time it takes to onboard someone properly.
Even at minimum wage, which rises to £12.76 per hour from April 2026, the real cost to an employer is always higher than the headline hourly rate - especially if you’re looking at competitive salaries.
And that’s where outsourcing casually strolls into the conversation, waving their ‘no commitment’ banner.
With a VA, you usually work on a retainer or hourly basis. As the UK Virtual Assistant Survey 2025 states, “[For Virtual Assistants, while] hourly rates range from £14 - £86, the most popular rate to charge at present is £30 per hour.”[4]
On paper, a £30+ per hour VA might look steep next to a minimum wage (I’ve heard that more than once). But if you take the average £25,000 salary of a full-time Admin Assistant, once you include National Insurance, pensions and recruitment costs, it’s closer to £2,500 per month in real terms.
On the flipside, outsourcing 40 hours of focused support to an expert at £30 per hour would sit at roughly £1,200 for that month. And if next month you only need 20 hours, that adjusts too.
The numbers don’t lie.
For photographers and other creative business owners, where income can fluctuate across the year, that flexibility matters. It means you can increase support during enquiry spikes and ease back during quieter editing periods without carrying a permanent salary in the background.
What this means for freelancers and photographers
If you’re a freelancer or photographer, your year probably doesn’t run in a straight line. There are months where you don’t stop, your inbox is overflowing, and you’re juggling shoots, edits and admin all at once. And then there are the quieter pockets where things slow down a little and you get to catch your breath.
Those ebbs and flows don’t always sit comfortably with a fixed, full-time hire.
Most photographers we work with don’t necessarily need someone in-house, five days a week, all year round. What they usually need is reliable support that flexes with them. More hours when peak enquiry season kicks in, fewer when things calm down.
Instead of feeling like you have to justify a full-time role, outsourcing means you can build support gradually. You can figure out what delegation actually feels like and which tasks you genuinely want off your plate before committing to anything bigger.
Sometimes you just need the right support at the right time – and that’s where outsourcing starts to make sense.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing used to feel like something you did temporarily, but now, for many small businesses, it’s becoming the first choice.
That doesn’t mean in-house hiring is wrong. For some businesses, having someone physically present, embedded in daily operations and growing with the team long-term is exactly what’s needed.
But for photographers and small creative businesses in particular, it comes down to timing and what’s manageable long-term.
If your income moves with the seasons, and your workload hits in waves, committing to a second salary can feel like a very big step. It’s not that you don’t need the help; it’s just that the leap might feel a bit too permanent.
Working with an experienced and established virtual assistant can give you the same structure and support, without locking you into something that doesn’t adjust as your needs do.
The UK VA Survey 2025 shows an industry that’s steady and here for the long haul. And that growth is not only showing we’re ready, but it’s also changing how business owners think about the support they’re building around them.
How Ashwood VA can help
If you’re at that stage where the work is coming in quickly but the BTS work is stacking up, an experienced VA’s support can make the biggest difference.
A virtual assistant can take care of the tasks that keep everything moving, whether that’s managing enquiries, organising your systems or simply making sure nothing slips through the cracks when you’re in the thick of a busy season.
You can find out more about how Ashwood VA supports photographers and creative businesses by:
Or, if you want to learn more about what it’s like working with a Virtual Assistant, you can check out our dedicated blog here!
What is the Society of Virtual Assistants?
The Society of Virtual Assistants, often shortened to the SVA, is a UK-based membership body supporting VAs at every stage of business. It was set up to raise standards within the industry, provide practical guidance and create a sense of community for virtual assistants who want to build a long-term, sustainable business.
Alongside training and resources, the SVA runs the annual UK VA Survey, which offers one of the clearest snapshots of how the industry is evolving. For VAs like us, it’s a constant, quiet reminder that this isn’t a side-hustle sector – it’s a professional, growing industry.
Dedicated citations source: UK Virtual Assistant Survey 2025 (SVA) – for more information please visit www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk
