What an in-house EA actually costs.
The salary number isn’t the whole story. Once you account for benefits, recruiting, training, replacement risk, and tooling, the W2 path costs roughly 2x what most finance teams budget for.
Benchmarks based on the 2024 ManpowerGroup EA Salary Survey (US average), adjusted for tech-company hiring patterns.
Line by line
The real cost of an in-house EA.
A US EA earning $110K base looks reasonable on a hiring plan. Here’s what actually hits the budget once everything is loaded in.
| Cost component | In-house EA | Viva (Enhanced) |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary or service fee | $110,000 | $60,000 |
| Benefits + payroll taxes (~30%) | $33,000 | Included |
| Recruiting & vetting | $8,000–$15,000 | Included |
| Training + ramp time | 6–10 weeks lost | Pre-trained, live in 24 hours |
| PTO + leave backfill | You backfill | Included |
| Equipment + tooling | $2,000–$4,000/yr | Included |
| Replacement risk (3–6mo gap) | ~$30,000 expected | Re-match at no cost |
| All-in annual total | ~$143,000* | ~$60,000 |
*Benchmark: 2024 ManpowerGroup US EA average. Replacement risk based on industry-standard 12% annual EA turnover and 3-month productivity gap. Excludes one-time recruiting agency fees of 15–25% on placement. Compare against Starter and Enterprise plans.
Beyond the salary
Where the in-house path actually costs you.
Six categories of cost and complexity that finance and people leaders consistently underestimate, and how Viva handles each one.
Recruiting time
Productivity ramp
Performance management
PTO + leave gaps
Replacement risk
Security + procurement
Run the math
Estimate your savings.
Pick how many executives need support and the right scenario for your team. We’ll do the rest.
Your team
Across 1 executives
Beyond cost
What else you trade off with in-house.
Sometimes building in-house is the right call. Just make the call knowing what you’re getting and what you’re not.
Speed to value
Viva EAs are live in under 24 hours. An in-house hire is realistically 8–12 weeks from job posting to productive contribution.
Talent depth
Viva accepts <1% of applicants. Most in-house teams don’t have the funnel volume to compete with that level of selectivity.
Retention safety net
Viva’s average EA tenure is 2+ years vs. industry average of 18 months. Plus a re-match guarantee if it doesn’t work out.
AI + tools, pre-trained
Viva EAs are fluent in Claude, Granola, Notion, Zapier, and Slack on day one. In-house ramp on these tools usually takes weeks.
Real outcome
What this looks like in practice.
Top questions
What finance and people leaders ask first.
Can’t we just hire an EA in LatAm directly and save the markup?
You can, and some teams do. Direct hires in LatAm typically run $30K–$60K all-in. The trade-off is what you give up: vetting (you own the <1% selectivity), training (4-week pre-pairing), performance management, PTO backfill, replacement guarantee, ISO 27001 controls, and a CSM. Most people teams that run the comparison end up at Viva because the loaded cost of doing all that in-house, especially at scale, exceeds the difference.
What about cultural fit and in-person time?
Viva EAs are C1/C2 fluent in English, and 60% have lived, worked, or studied in the US. They can travel to the US for offsites and in-person work. For executive teams that need permanent in-person support, an in-house W2 hire is the right call. For everyone else, modern remote workflows make this a non-issue.
How does this work for IP and confidentiality?
Every Viva EA signs a binding NDA through Viva before access is granted. We’re ISO 27001 compliant. Work products stay in your systems, not on EA devices. We support customers with SOC 2 Type I and Type II environments. Procurement teams can request a full security review or DPA execution.
Is Viva good for multi-executive support across an exec team?
Yes. Many of our customers have 3+ EAs across their executive team. The Enhanced plan supports up to 2 executives with one EA. The Enterprise plan covers up to 3 with PTO backfill included. Volume discounts apply at 3+ EAs.
What if the EA isn’t the right fit?
We re-match at no cost. Our first-match success rate is high because we pre-pair to your executive’s needs before placement. If it isn’t working, we fix it without a fee or a contract renegotiation.
Get started
See the math for your team.
One discovery call. We’ll model the cost difference for your specific situation, surface 2 pre-vetted EAs, and get you onboarded the next day if it’s a fit. The full path from vetting to match is on the how it works page, and the solutions pages show the coverage for each executive role.