January 2020, when COVID-19 became a pandemic in the entire globe, large industrial giants were affected by the growing cases. Not only employees but employers were affected by the nationwide lockdown in different countries. That's when hiring virtual employees became a scaling profit for the companies to reduce their overheads as employees were unable to estimate productivity in the office.

In no time, companies started hunting professionals who were available as virtual employees when hiring them became a mandated requirement for them. Let's talk in detail about what is a virtual employee and how they benefit the companies, especially at the time of a crisis like Coronavirus pandemic.

Who are Virtual Employees?

Virtual or remote employees are individuals who are hired by the firm on either full-time or part-time from a remote location. Duration of the project depends on the work type. And if you are wondering if virtual employees are similar to freelancers, well there is undoubtedly a noted difference between both. Freelancers are not employees of the company as they are self-employed who work for different clients simultaneously. Employers do not hold complete control on freelancers, just the performance of their work in exchange for the monetary benefits offered to them.

Virtual employees, on the other hand, are people on the payroll of the firm and work for a single employer. Employers hold complete control of their work and every aspect of their job and task performed. You can quote them as regular employees, but working on a remote basis. With technology growing on an everyday basis, it is easier to hire virtual employees. Unfortunately, the demand for virtual employees escalated in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic followed by the nationwide lockdown.

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Benefits of Hiring Virtual Employees

Whether it's an employer or an employee, if a virtual employee is something you are focused on, it is essential to understand the benefits of the same. Not only does it help you in making an ideal decision, but will also save you time and investment before you regret the decision at the initial stage. Let's pen down some of the benefits of hiring virtual employees.

1. Scalability of your Business

When you have too many overhead costs of the business, it becomes difficult to scale your numbers and revenues. Isn't it? And let's face it: To scale your business accurately, you will have to hire more employees. However, to accommodate all the employees, it also requires an investment of renting out a larger space for your office. And well, with larger office space, the rental bills and electricity bill will also be extended. Not only that, but other utilities are also involved in the same, which will increase your overhead costs without even realizing.

But when you hire a virtual employee, the overhead costing of working space and other utilities can be avoided. So, even if you plan to expand your business with virtual employees, your office space might not be an issue at all. Consider the instance of an IT firm. If you run the Information Technology firm, you can provide smooth delivery of the project to your clients with employees working remotely.

2. In-office Costing

When a firm is operating with all employees working from the office space, there are various expenses and services you must offer to their staff. Such as:

• The proper furnished infrastructure that includes maintenance cost of the space
• Air Conditioning space, office supplies and rent of your office
• Food and Beverages cost
• Technical expenses like high-speed Wi-Fi and multiple software

Including other miscellaneous costs, the utility bill quickly figures out to four or five-digit numbers. But, when you hire a virtual employee, you can cut out many of the expenses mentioned above. Probably, you will need to invest in their Wi-Fi costing and software requirement. Remote employees take complete responsibility for other costs. Not only does it drastically reduce the expenses, but it also allows the employees to work at their comfort level.

3. Diverse and Professional Hiring

When you hire an employee to work inside your office space, you are bound to hire the professionals in your region only. It might restrict your hiring demography to your area, which reduces the probability of hiring an expert from another region who might be entirely professional than someone you recently hired.

With virtual hiring, one can hire employees from different cities or even continents. It helps in increasing the diverse environment and input in your company. The HR department of your firm also enjoys access to the global talent available for virtual hiring. And you never know, you might end up hiring the best employee for the respective job, which might not have access to your region or city.

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Virtual employees from different regions also bring more diversification in terms of ideas which eventually help in the profitable growth of the firm. In the end, every firm looks for an employee who is innovative, creative, and understands the sentiment and values of the company.

4. You Can Save Your Staff From the Workload

When all your employees work from a single space, sometimes it becomes difficult to cope with the work and pressure while answering queries of clients around the globe. Such a force is quite common in IT support companies, including business and knowledge processing departments as we all are aware that night shift jobs in several countries also invite a lot of troubles for staff who are not used to graveyard shifts.

Such an issue can be resolved with virtual employees who can be hired from across the globe. They can handle the client queries in their region without pressuring themselves into night shift and increasing work pressure. Not only does it benefit your employees, but your business can also increase its scaling where employees can work in their comfort zone without compromising on their routines and sleep cycles.

5. Job Satisfaction and Motivation Towards Work

We all agree to the fact that work-life balance plays a significant role in retaining your employees to your firm. Hiring virtual employees increases motivation towards the work, and job satisfaction is attained at the utmost level. Since virtual employees do not have time on the road to reach their respective office, they are able to balance work and personal life. With flexible hours of services, employees are more comfortable in their zones, which ultimately increases their motivation and commitment towards the firm.

Commitment towards the company increases their motivation towards better productivity that leads to better revenue generation for the company. After all, any and every company will only succeed when their employees are satisfied with their work schedule and do not drop out amid stressful pressure.

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To Summarize

If you are planning to hire virtual employees for your company, you have all the listed benefits to help you understand the structure well. It might seem a significant change in the company culture, but the results are definitely impressive in the longer run. However, it is vital to keep a close check on the productivity of the virtual employees as they're not physically present in front of you.

Once the resource structure is appropriately operated, and the right employee is hired, you might notice a shooting graph that excels the scalability of your firm. A correct approach towards hiring a virtual employee is a definite plan that must be presented correctly, and you will notice the increasing numbers in front of your eyes.

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, remote work culture is highly appreciated where employees and employers are able to manifest the best outcomes possible.