$3 per hour?

We saw a post where a Filipino VA shared something pretty revealing.

A client from the Netherlands told them his dropshipping coach specifically advised him SPECIFICALLY to hire Filipinos for customer support and pay them $3/hour.

The coach apparently said some Filipinos would even accept $2/hour, but $3 was a good starting rate and they could “give them a raise later.”

Meanwhile, the poster knew someone doing the same eCommerce customer service work for $8/hour in 2023.

Now, $3/hour offers seem increasingly common on platforms like OLJ.

So the bigger question is: Who decided $3/hour is the “standard” rate for Filipino VAs and how did that idea spread among foreign business owners?