Why is hiring an offshore freelancer for long term projects is inefficient?

Offshore freelancing is a process whereby a client hires a freelancer to work remotely from a different location than the client. More often than not, the freelancer works from home and is based in a foreign country.

Clients should only offshore freelance short term projects. This is because, in most instances, a freelancer can work independently if a project is short term and does not require significant inputs from the client. It would, however, be unadvisable if a client hires a freelancer to work on a project (or projects) that is likely to span six months or a year. This is because an outsourced project(s) of such a long duration would require at least some regular interaction and collaboration between the freelancer and the client. By default, due to the very longevity of such a project itself, it is highly unlikely that the freelancer could work independently for a whole year. Such outsourcing would demand that the client and freelancer work directly together.

Offshore freelancing is not 'designed' for the client and freelancer to work closely together and herein is one major reason why offshore freelancing is unsuitable for long term projects. There are other reasons as well and let's see what these are:

1. The first and most obvious reason as to why offshore freelancing does not enable the client and freelancer to work closely together is because of resource limitations (in particular, with freelancers from Third World countries). Even basic infrastructure in countries like India and the Philippines is often lacking. Frequent electricity cuts and poor and unstable internet connectivity makes working remotely fraught with difficulties. If a client needs to train or work very closely with the freelancer, the process is likely to be highly ineffective. This, coupled with the fact that freelancers work with multiple clients simultaneously and often work different hours from the client because of time zone differences, only serves to make working with a freelancer remotely that much more impractical.
   
   
2. A lack of stability and unprofessionalism are further barriers to making freelancing viable on a long term basis. If a client wants to hire a freelancer for one year, there is no contract in place that assures that the freelancer will complete the entire project. If a freelancer receives a better opportunity, the client can easily be stranded with an incomplete project.
   
   
3. Furthermore, because a freelancer works alone from home there is no way that a client can monitor the activity or regulate the behaviour of the freelancer. As a result, unprofessional conduct is fairly common, resulting in unproductivity and inefficient results. And if this occurs there is no third party to intervene and mediate and assist the two parties.

At any time during their association, all these potential inefficiencies can cause a client to abruptly stop working with a freelancer or vice versa. A client then has to start from scratch - search for, screen and hire another freelancer. In a project already riddled with delays, some more time will be gobbled up with the client having to build a rapport with the new freelancer, train the freelancer and for the freelancer to catch up with the work at hand. A client, who has a consistent work flow, may find himself having to repeatedly contract with different freelancers, which is costly and time-consuming. In particular for clients with pressing deadlines, a freelancer abandoning a project mid-way can have dire consequences.

In summary, outsourcing with an offshore freelancer on a long term basis can be highly inefficient for two reasons. Firstly, working with a freelancer is very impractical. And secondly, clients are likely to find themselves having to repeatedly source and hire new freelancers.

Is there an alternative? Yes, there is.

Hiring a Virtual Employee is by a far a better alternative for clients who work with long term projects. Take a look at the advantages.

1. A Virtual Employee works from VirtualEmployee.com's office which is equipped with the latest hardware and infrastructure to ensure a smooth working relationship between client and employee. Hence, working remotely and closely with a VE is very stress-free and rewarding.
   
   
2. Furthermore, with a VE working from a supervised office, issues regarding work ethics, conduct and accountability are not a problem. And to make things even more convenient, a VE can be made to work the same office hours as their client.
   
   
3. Additionally, a VE is a dedicated, full time employee. A VE does not work with multiple clients but with only one client over a long period of time. Subsequently, clients do not have to repeatedly hire different employees and this enables clients to focus on their work and build a rapport with their VE.

In conclusion, for clients with long term requirements, hiring a Virtual Employee is a lot more efficient than hiring a freelancer. This is not only because working with a VE is easier but also because clients can work with the same individual on a long term basis and so do not waste time on recruitment, learning how an individual works and in retraining.