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In a couple of weeks, I will be moving back to Europe, Switzerland to be more precise. Everybody who has experienced an international move, will agree with me, that it is not an easy thing to do. Especially when there are children involved… But that story is for another time. Today I want to share with you my thoughts on the Virtual Assistance profession in Europe.

I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to start my business in the US, benefiting of an immense networking system of Virtual Assistants and taking advantage of a plethora of tools and information material on how to start your own business.

You see, in the United States, virtual work is extremely well developed. According to Kiplinger, 12/00 It is estimated that 100 million U.S. workers will Telecommute by 2010, that is over 30% of the population. Unfortunately this is not yet the case in most of the European countries. Here are the numbers:

Total number of teleworkers to overall working population:

Rank
Country
Teleworkers
%

1
UK
4 million
15%

2
Finland
300,000
13.6%

3
Norway
50,000
11.4%

4
Sweden
400,000
10.3%

5
Ireland
40,000
2.9%

6
Germany
800,000
2.4%

7
Pays-Bas
140,000
1.9%

8
France
300,000
1.3%

In France and other Latin countries, there is still a big resistance to teleworking. The term “assistante virtuelle” is not very common at all, and people often don’t know what it entails.

In Germany, the percentage of teleworkers is slightly higher, but here again the term “Virtuelle Assistentin” is often misunderstood, sometimes as a virtual helpdesk, sometimes as a cheap labor from India, China or the Philippines.

In the UK on the other hand, they are more progressive when it comes to new working methods and Virtual Assistants are beginning to be recognized and their number is increasing. “Bettina von Stamm of the London Business School said self-confidence, devolved authority and autonomy were keys to successful teleworking and the British style of management fostered those qualities.”

The self-employed in Finland are generally classified as entrepreneurs, and it’s no coincidence that this country has also a very high percentage of teleworkers.

Switzerland probably fits in somewhere between France and Germany. There is a lot of prep work for us Virtual Assistants, informing potential clients about our profession and showing them all the benefits a virtual business relationship has to offer. But when it finally does take off, I will be there!