Hiring Virtual Employees: The 2025 Guide

In today’s fast-paced business world, staying competitive often means finding innovative ways to optimize operations and reduce costs. This often includes hiring virtual employees, including virtual assistants.

Whether you’re looking to scale your team, streamline administrative tasks, or access specialized talent without the overhead of traditional hiring, virtual employees offer unparalleled flexibility and efficiency.

But how do you ensure you’re making the right hiring decisions and maximizing the benefits of a remote workforce?

In this guide, we’ll discuss what virtual employees are, explore the advantages of hiring virtual employees, and the key considerations for hiring and onboarding virtual employees, including partnering with a trusted provider to unlock the full potential of a virtual team.

Read on to find out more.

What are Virtual Employees?

A virtual employee is a professional who works remotely for any business. They use virtual means of communication to keep in touch while performing tasks and completing projects from outside the office, and sometimes even outside of the country. 

In recent years, the percentage of employees working from home worldwide has increased from only 7% in 2015 to 28% by 2023. By 2030, the World Economic Forum estimates that there will be 92 million virtual employees working full-time worldwide.

This trend continues as many professionals seeking work expect increased flexibility. In turn, more businesses are embracing this desired flexibility as they seek to accommodate valuable talent, often at lesser costs than hiring in-house talent.

What are the Different Types of Virtual Employees?

There are three basic types of virtual employees:

Type 1: Virtual Assistants

This is a remote working professional who is technically employed by a virtual assistant service provider. 

As a customer, you discuss your needs with the provider, and they give you professionals to choose from. You pay the provider a flat monthly fee to have that remote employee become part of your time, per the details of your contract.

Type 2: In-House Remote

This would be when you hire someone locally, via your own job ad and recruiting. 

You hire them the same way you would any other employee, with insurance and benefits and equipment requirements. The only difference is they work from home rather than come into your office regularly. But you can stipulate the occasional need for an in-office visit during the job offer phase.

Type 3: Freelance

Freelance employees work remotely by default, as they often make themselves available to multiple employers at a time. 

This would be someone you found on a job board of some kind, where you’d browse professionals and their skills and talents and reach out accordingly. 

A freelance worker has the least amount of oversight and responsibility for a specific business, so this is often the riskiest choice for a remote employee. 

Although there are these different types of virtual employees, their common denominator is, of course, their ability to work entirely remotely via reliable equipment and an internet connection. 

The biggest differences between them are the cost per value and the inherent risks. Some types of remote employees can be less reliable and effective than others, and some can cost a lot less than others. 

It’s important to understand what your needs and expectations are before determining which type of virtual employee would suit you best.

4 Benefits of Hiring Remote Employees

Hiring remote employees offers businesses these four main benefits:

1. Reduced Overhead Costs

Whether you choose to go with a professional service or someone freelance, you’ll always save money when hiring a remote employee. 

Businesses can save as much as 78% of their operating costs when hiring virtual assistants compared to hiring in-house workers.

You reduce the need for more physical space to accommodate them, which means fewer costs on insurance, amenities, office supplies, and maintenance. 

If you go with a virtual assistant provider, you save even more, as you only pay one flat rate with no additional costs.

2. More Time Back

At MyOutDesk, one of the most common challenges described by the business owners we talked to was needing more time for focusing on their core functions.

They spend too much time on administrative tasks and “busy work” that they end up with less time for higher-value opportunities to grow their businesses.

By having a remote assistant manage all of those administrative and other business support tasks that don’t require an in-person touch, you free up your in-house experts to focus on their specialties.

Watch this video on the CEO’s secret weapon—virtual assistant benefits: