Is the future bleak for Virtual Assistants in North America?

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I want to feature another business challenge put forth by one of our subscribers: The growing challenge of offshore competition This has become a topic of interest across a number of blogs, so I thought I would attempt to tackle this one myself! I am not sure if you have accounts at Elance or Guru, but it is a known fact that Western Virtual Assistants ( residing US, Canada, UK, Australia etc....) are competing against $2-$5/hour VAs in such countries as India and the Phillipines.  It is also a known fact that more and more companies are starting to outsource internationally in order to cut costs and grow their profits. So in light of these trends, what is to become of Virtual Assistants in places like North America, UK and Australia - will they simply not be able to compete in this new global marketplace? I am sure this concern has crossed the mind of many VAs especially if they are browsing Virtual Assistant profiles in Elance and Guru. Well, there is HOPE and let me tell you why... The Virtual Assistant industry while technically founded in 1995 (by Christine Durst) is still a relatively new industry. Stats have estimated there are currently about 20,000 Virtual Assistants working worldwide. However, that is a very small number considering the increasing amounts of small and medium sized businesses seeking to hire Virtual Assistants over the next couple years.  It is estimated that by 2009, 80% of all small and medium businesses will have a web-presence and be marketing online - that is over 20 million companies! Many of these companies will be building Virtual Teams in order to manage their business and online efforts. It is predicted that there won't actually be enough Virtual Assistants to meet the demand! Furthermore, based on my own experience in outsourcing internationally and in-country, there will always be certain tasks that are better suited to a western Virtual Assistant. For example; in a previous company I worked with, we had hired a Virtual Assistant to research, recruit and manage affiliate partner relationships. This individual was required to keep regular North American hours and converse on the phone with partners. We would not have outsourced this virtual position internationally. There are many more examples. The reality is that there will always be a certain part of the business population that prefers a more local virtual presence as opposed to offshore VAs. So, while outsourcing offshore is on the rise, so is the potential client base VAs can market to! Secondly, there are oodles of opportunities for Virtual Assistants to establish in-demand niches and become specialists in such areas as Blogging, Social Media, Shopping Cart Set-up, Autoresponder management and so much more! I firmly believe that those Virtual Assistants who continue to adapt their business and tap into new "in-demand" niches will thrive even in the midst of growing offshore competition.  Personally, I would much rather hire a "Specialist VA"  at a higher hourly rate to accomplish a particular task as they will likely take less time and be more proficient. Michael Russer, author of The Obsolete Employee, says "...To be consistently successful as a VA, one needs to specialize rather than run ragged trying to be everything to everyone." This is key - the important piece is to know what tasks are in demand and what to specialize in. There is a BIG market for VA Specialists - Blogger VAs, Social Media VAs, Online Event Planner VAs, Affilate Marketing VAs... the list goes on. Finally, there is an unprecendented number of networking opportunities for Virtual Assistants to connect with their target audience through such sites as Linkedin.com, Facebook Groups, Ryze and so much more. This is networking on steroids! Those virtual assistants that consistently tap into these many targeted networking channels online and build a rapport with the small/medium business community will position themselves well for a steady stream of new clients and income opportunities. Futhermore, it is essential that Virtual Assistants also educate local businesses on the immense value of hiring virtual staff. There is certainly good value in connecting with local business associations to raise awareness as well. I firmly believe that if you can market and network well, you will never have a shortage of work, irregardless of the offshore outsourcing trends. This is a very interesting topic - please join the discussion! I would be interested to get your own personal take and feedback on the whole offshore Virtual Assistant trend.