Blog

## Outsourcing Blogs

### Comparing the Virtual Employee and the Freelancer

Posted by Shaunvir Singh on 29 October, 2013

When comparing an offshore freelancer to a Virtual Employee, vis-a-vis hiring and working, where do the respective strengths of each lie?

The objective of this article is to better understand the role of freelancers and virtual employees or remote dedicated employees. Answering the above question will in turn help one deduce which of the two is more suitable for a specific offshore requirement.

##### Speed

Generally speaking, one can assign a project to a freelancer relatively quickly. Hiring remote employees may take longer.

This is because most (although not all) Virtual Employees undergo rigorous screening process before being hired, which obviously takes time.

##### Professionalism

Freelancers work from home, unsupervised, and are not legally contracted. Subsequently, they often become complacent when it comes to availability, punctuality in meeting deadlines, and completing a project.

On the other hand, working with dedicated employees means a significantly greater degree of accountability and supervision. This is because these employees work from VirtualEmployee.com’s supervised office where they are monitored by managers at all times. Furthermore, they are legally hired resources, and thus are accountable to both the remote staffing specialist and the client.

##### Work Priority

Freelancers work with multiple clients simultaneously. Inevitably, they devote their greatest attention and priority to whichever contract is the most financially rewarding for them. Furthermore, because freelancers work on short-term projects, they do not have any fear that they could jeopardize losing a long-term, secure job, unlike a dedicated employee.

Virtual Employees, on the other hand, are dedicated, full-time resources. They work for only one client and the client’s work is always their foremost priority.

##### Cost-effectiveness

With regard to cost, both freelancers and dedicated resources save clients considerable expenses.

However, clients get a lot more for their money when they employ virtual resources. With a freelancer, clients simply receive “x” number of hours. With remote dedicated professionals, clients not only have a dedicated, full-time resource but, essentially, their own offshore office in India. VirtualEmployee.com’s office becomes a subsidiary office of the client’s local office. And the client can avail the services of the dedicated HR department, accounts department, IT support, and client support department. Furthermore, our managers work on the client’s behalf to manage their employees and ensure that the client’s instructions are followed. Lastly, remote dedicated staff has easy access to the best infrastructure and hardware. It is highly unlikely for freelancers to have access to such infrastructure and hardware.