Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2011, during the economic crisis in Spain. The claim that companies were increasingly offering 24-hour personal assistance services as an “emotional salary” reflects that moment and is not backed by figures or a source.
In times of crisis, many companies recognise the extra effort their employees put in, while knowing this is no time to raise salaries across the workforce, something some employees themselves acknowledge. That is why companies are increasingly turning to the “emotional salary” (non-monetary rewards that improve employees’ wellbeing).
In Spain in particular, more and more employers are giving their staff access to a 24-hour personal assistance company. Since employees are short on time, they can hand over to the personal assistance company those tasks that, while not vitally important, are part of everyday life. An employee at a company that has hired this service no longer needs to take time off work to get the car through its ITV (Spain’s compulsory vehicle inspection), to drop off documents at a court, or even to buy presents for their children or partner.
Likewise, imagine something breaks at home and the plumber can only come at 10 in the morning. All you have to do is call this company and they’ll send someone to let the plumber in. That way you don’t have to miss those hours at work.
These companies work on a “flat rate”: you pay a fee, though we don’t know how much it is. When the client is a company, a special group rate is agreed.
On the other hand, just as we once described virtual assistance companies as one of the profitable businesses of the future, let’s not forget that among businesses that provide services to other companies, personal assistance companies are also a good business opportunity for entrepreneurs.
The only drawback I see in this business idea is that, if it succeeds, insurance companies would soon add it to their range of business insurance policies.
Further reading
Featured image: La fabrica de nubes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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