Many entrepreneurs in the West have been happy to take advantage of labor in the Philippines to grow their own businesses or simply make their lives easier. John Jonas, the founder of, a job board for virtual workers in the Philippines, first hired a Filipino VA in 2006. He indicated that he first tried to find a VA from India but ended up turning to the Philippines because of what he described as language and"cultural barriers.
Since Jonas launched OnlineJobs.ph in 2009, he said, it has become a leading platform for Filipino virtual assistants, with over 2 million profiles offering services. And Jonas isn't shy about his own use of Filipino VAs — or how much he pays them. Jonas employs 39 assistants in the Philippines who work for him full time. He pays them $500 to $2,100 a month, depending on their skills and roles.
One 25-year-old Filipino who works as a VA and search-engine-optimization writer described NicheSiteLady's tweets as"exploitation at its finest."