Offshore Outsourcing: Freelance the Past, Virtual Employees the Future:

The internet has enabled the freelance sector to grow exponentially in recent years. Freelance work over the internet has mainly grown in fields such as software development, website design, advertising, proofreading, law, accounts and copy editing.  The work consists of short term projects that can generally be completed within a few weeks or months. The vast majority of freelance work done over the internet in these sectors is offshore outsourced to freelancers and freelance companies based in India.

The offshore outsourcing of freelance work to remote freelancers in countries such as India is undoubtedly a profitable practice.  Companies and individuals can have their projects completed by freelancers from India, for a fraction of what the cost would be in the USA or UK. Furthermore, there is no compromise on the quality of work, for the freelancers have the same qualifications and skills as their equivalents in the USA. For these reasons it is not surprising that companies alone from the West have increased their freelance outsourcing by 22% over the internet in the past three years.

Although, a very productive strategy the limitations of freelancing are clearly evident. For companies or individuals that have on-going work they need to outsource, using the freelance “route” would not be appropriate.  This is where VirtualEmployee.com and its Virtual Employees take over from the freelancer as the new future of the offshore outsourcing industry.

VirtualEmployee.com enables employers from around the world to employ their very own full time dedicated employee from India. The advantage with this model is that you can reduce your costs significantly and unlike freelancing, continuously outsource your work. As a result, the Virtual Employee will serve a new offshore outsourcing market, one which will not eradicate but certainly reduce the dependency on the freelancer.

How Does it all Work?:

VirtualEmployee.com is a US company and is the crucial third party that makes it possible for employers not only to outsource but to also actually employ their very own employee from India. From start to finish VirtualEmployee.com is present to make it possible for you to employ your own employee.

To begin with, the VirtualEmployee.com recruitment department actively searches and then shortlists several candidates for the position you seek to fill. We then submit to you the shortlisted candidates resumes and you can then interview/employ any of the candidates. VirtualEmployee.com can provide you with an employee in any office field, from programming, law and accounts to data entry, admin assistants and call center agents.

The infrastructure and facilities a Virtual Employee will have at his/her disposal will be far superior to those available to freelancers working from home. This is because once you select a Virtual Employee to start working for you; your employee will work for you from our office. VirtualEmployee.com will provide your employee with fast broadband internet connection, a new PC, TFT monitor screens, fax, scanners and any software required, (including Microsoft office 2007)..etc. Furthermore our office is maintained to international standards with A/C, large work stations for the employees, our own generator for non-stop electricity supply…etc. We also provide your employee with a telephone which will have a local telephone number from your country, (a US/UK/Aus ..etc telephone number) thus making it very easy for you to call and speak with your employee. This in addition to instant messengers, email, Skype and video conferencing makes it possible for you to communicate, work with and collaborate with your employee. With sufficient technology employees can work remotely for you from anywhere in the world; working physically from the same office is no longer necessary. VirtualEmployee.com creates an office environment whereby your employee can work directly for you despite your employee not working directly from your office. When freelancing or working with a freelancer the same level of infrastructure and facilities cannot be matched or assured.

When freelancing although one can outsource in a vast number of office fields there is certain limitations. For instance, one could not hire a call center agent freelancer or a nuclear physicist freelancer. Unlike with freelancing, with VirtualEmployee.com there is no type of office employee you cannot hire.  The reason for this is because firstly VirtualEmployee.com itself recruits the employees and so locating/providing any type of office employee is of no difficultly. Secondly your employees work from our office where they are provided with all office facilities they need to work, e.g. a telephone with local US number from a call center agent. Thirdly, because the VirtualEmployee.com business model is to provide full time employees a lot more employees in a lot more office fields are willing to work as Virtual Employees, (as opposed to freelancers) because of the job security.  Hence, whilst hiring a freelancer to work as a call center agent is logistically unfeasible, VirtualEmployee.com has the infrastructure to make this possible. Furthermore, where a nuclear physicist would not work as a freelancer because of lack of job security, with VirtualEmployee.com such an employee can be provided.

Employer-Virtual Employee working relationship:

The VirtualEmployee.com business model is that your employee works for you and with you just like an employee who works from your office. The only difference of course is that your Virtual Employee works for you remotely as opposed to physically from the same office as you. Thus your Virtual Employee will take instructions from you, report/submit their work to you and interact/collaborate with you. VirtualEmployee.com simply manages your employee on your behalf. We pay your employee, provide all office space and equipment, monitor them whilst they work, provide any technical assistance if required and ensure they have everything necessary to work. VirtualEmployee.com is furthermore a source of support for both employer and employee; on call and present at all times to ensure the whole outsourcing process runs smoothly.

When freelancing, one does not have the same level and interaction/collaboration with a freelancer. This is because freelancers work for clients on a short term basis and often work for several clients at once. Furthermore freelancers may not have all the office equipment and office infrastructure, (e.g. fast broadband internet connection) necessary to interact and collaborate effectively with a client virtually.

Accordingly VirtualEmployee.com and Virtual Employees are the future of offshore outsourcing. The VirtualEmployee.com business model creates an offshore outsourcing first, by combining the ability to outsource whilst also being able employ your very own employee. Hence employers now have another option to freelancing, as with VirtualEmployee.com employers have the low cost that comes with outsourcing and the high effectiveness that comes through hiring your very own employee.