Work From Home: Freelancing vs. Virtual Assistance

5 minute read

written by Maria Fernanda Calatrava

Mar 25, 2021

In recent years, human resources practices and methodologies have been in a constant and rapid evolution, leaving aside the traditional ways of working to adopt more efficient modalities such as working from home. 

Work from home consists of carrying out the tasks that you would normally do at an office within the comfort of your own home. This trend is very common among companies because it has innumerable benefits for both businesses and employees, such as:

  • Increase in productivity
  • Reduction of operating costs
  • Flexibility in schedule
  • Stress reduction
  • Decrease in absenteeism rates
  • Better use of time and resources
  • Balance between work and family life

Without a doubt, working from home has been identified as the most efficient modality yet, however, it's important that both employers and employees ensure that they evolve and make an effort in incorporating new trends into their policies, give proper training and do their part to make everything work out efficiently.

Having this in mind, it's important to mention that work from home, has different modalities, such as freelancing and virtual assistance. 

Freelancing

Freelancing is when the labor relations between employee and employer are based solely on the fulfillment of established objectives. A contract or agreement is created in which both parties agree to carry out a certain number of tasks for a certain amount of time and once the specified tasks are completed, the employment relationship ends. To have a better understanding, some of the main characteristics of freelancing are:

  1. There is no fixed physical space, like an office. The place where the work is carried out will depend entirely on the worker.
  2. In general, this modality is designed for rotating personnel who are not part of the active and constant payroll of the company.
  3. Each worker is free to create work routines independently of the company, as long as there is fulfillment of objectives in the time indicated according to the agreements of the parties.
  4. The worker will have total freedom to choose the project or tasks in which they want to participate. At the end of the day, it will be the company that will decide if the worker is suitable to fill the job opening or not.
  5. This modality allows freelance workers to get involved in as many projects as they consider feasible, having the possibility of carrying out more than one job with different companies simultaneously.

Virtual Assistance

Virtual assistance takes place when a person, in this case, a virtual assistant (VA), is employed to take on various tasks from a remote location. VAs are mostly in demand by small businesses and entrepreneurs who wish to increase efficiency and save money. Some of the main characteristics of this modality are:

  1. The company, together with the worker, reach an agreement in which they establish a work schedule that is convenient for both parties.
  2. In this employment relationship, both the employer and the virtual assistant will benefit from an important cultural exchange that allows them to remain competitive in the market.
  3. Remote employees will have the opportunity to constantly expand their network and gain experience by being in regular contact with people from all around the world.


It's important to mention that there are companies out there, like Capita Works, that provide virtual assistance services with highly-qualified professionals that can do pretty much everything that your normal staff might do. But most importantly, they recruit, manage, and support your staff, meaning you don't have to worry about anything. So some characteristics we can add up when hiring through companies like Cápita Works are:  

  1. Employees are hired complying with all the requirements established by local laws and guidelines, guaranteeing their well-being and satisfaction.
  2. VAs are paid fair salaries, covered with private health, dental and life insurance and get access to exclusive benefits programs.
  3. Remote assistants have access to on-demand trainings, live quarterly trainings, and webinars.

As you can see, work from home is here to stay, and nothing less could be expected since it provides numerous benefits, as long as all parties focus on having a harmonious working relationship. The most important companies in the market such as IBM, Microsoft, Repsol, Lefebvre, Aon and many more have implemented this modality for years and the success is evident.  

Now, which one is better for you? It really is up to you and your necessities, however, as an experienced recruiter, I can surely recommend you to opt for the virtual assistance option, especially when you do it through a specialized company like Cápita Works, as this will give you peace of mind. Why? If you're a business owner, you don't have to worry about the recruitment process, everything is done complying with laws and guidelines. On the other hand, if you apply as a virtual assistant, you will receive constant support, training, and have peace of mind when it comes to salary and benefits.

Now it's your turn to take action and decide what's best for you. Even better, get in touch with Cápita Works, the most reputable virtual assistance company in LATAM to get your new virtual assistant or to become one!

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