Zirtual Reaches 400 Employees as the Company Blazes a Trail for Employee-Based Collaborative Consumption Model

SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Zirtual --- the leader in providing U.S.-based virtual assistants to busy professionals, entrepreneurs, and small teams--- now has over, 400 employees, working as Zirtual Assistants (ZAs). While recent headlines focus on worker claims concerning employment status within collaborative consumption companies, Zirtual is paving the way for a more secure future for the sharing economy. Rather than independent contractors, the company hires its workers as full-time employees and provides benefits, paid vacation, access to a 401k program, and has brought hundreds of jobs to over 39 states.

"We're not looking to maximize short term gains by shortchanging our workforce, we believe our investment will pay off in the long run through worker retention, happiness, and organization-wide stability," says Zirtual founder and CEO, Maren Kate Donovan. "We want to build a solid foundation so that the company and its mission are scaleable as we continue to grow."

ZAs are paid between $11-15 dollars an hour and qualify for bonuses related to performance-based milestones. Many of the company's employees have previously held positions in the corporate sphere and now prefer working remotely outside of an office environment. Each new ZA goes through Zirtual University, a proprietary learning and development platform that helps new hires to hone their abilities and advance efficiency, organization, and client relations skills. "We want to show our workers that we're investing in them by providing them with on-the-job training and the security of full-time employment," says Donovan. "How could we ask the people representing our company to invest in us, and, therefore, our clients if we weren't willing to do the same for them?"

About Zirtual

Zirtual (www.zirtual.com) matches busy professionals and entrepreneurs with vetted and trained, U.S.-based virtual executive assistants ("Zirtual Assistants"). ZAs offer services to help professionals save time and boost productivity by performing a wide range of tasks, including different forms of online research, responding to emails, scheduling, event coordination, and much more. 89% of ZAs are women and are primarily stay-at-home moms who value the flexibility to raise their families while engaging in the workforce. Zirtual is headquartered in downtown Las Vegas, financed by Tony Hsieh (CEO of zappos.com), VegasTechFund (www.vegastechfund.com), and Mayfield Fund, and is now a part of the Downtown Project effort. For more information about Zirtual and its services, please visit: www.zirtual.com

SOURCE Zirtual