What is the actual cost of a full-time, in-office assistant?
Assume a minimum of $25 per hour at 40 hours per week.
Over the course of a year you're spending $48,000 on salary alone.
Add in the cost of health insurance, taxes, 401K, etc. at approximately 30-40% of salary and you're spending about $64,800 annually for your full time, in-house employee.
Don't forget the less obvious, and difficult to quantify, expenses such as overhead related to time and money spent filling and training your position, the cost of computers and other office technology, office space, lunch hours, sick and vacation pay, and numerous wasted, non-productive hours on the clock.