Among the great shifts taking place with Internet access is the growth of virtual workplaces.

Growing global markets, increasingly displaced skilled professionals, and the ebb and flow of demand and economic stability are fueling the number of people who are working as virtual contract employees for companies in countries they’ve never been to, working for people they’ve never met, on teams that are spread out in dozens of countries speaking as many different languages.

No one prepared staff for this type of work. Recently, some universities are offering curricula crafted to develop some of the needed skills, but much of what happens is very organic. I’d be willing to bet that the natural evolution of this process is also what is breeding such versatile, talented, multi-faceted professionals who are setting standards that traditional businesses couldn’t have conceived of as effectively.

Consider the pros of contract staffing to the employer: reduced brick-and-mortar costs; lower equipment and maintenance costs; reduced pension, healthcare, holiday, maternity and other types of paid leave and severance payments.

Now for the advantages to the contractor: lower transportation costs; fewer wasted hours in commuting, waiting, investing in and donning the uniform of choice; fewer distractions (true for the focused, perhaps less so for the easily distracted); little in the way of office politics (this has the downside that one works almost entirely on merit and not on the type of one-on-one daily interaction that breeds certain types of visibility and mobility); the ability to offer their services to the highest bidder; the option to take blocks of time off for personal or professional reasons without seriously damaging one’s job options; the need to stay sharp, flexible, nimble and alert to changing trends and market conditions.

Contract versus traditional employment may not be popular in many circles but this trend is not going away anytime soon. Those countries with high costs of doing business may feel the changes the most. Costs of pensions, paid holidays, healthcare, offices/warehouses, to say nothing of the fiscal and bureaucratic costs, are decided disincentives for businesses that are already facing stiff competition in unsteady markets.

One downside that affects both employers and contractors is the need for contractors to purchase and maintain their own equipment, assuring connectivity and reliability. Staying abreast of technological advances is not an easy feat for most. While it reduces the employers’ overhead, it also breeds an infinite number of issues with systems’ uniformity and overall quality control.

For global companies, language and cultural divides are serious issues with which they need to contend. Having English-speaking employees in Jamaica, India, New Zealand, Canada, and Spanish-dominant areas of the US, does not mean that a standard of English can be maintained. It is just not realistic. It is much more complex an issue than first meets the eye.

Weighing in on the benefits of working virtually demands clear and precise objectives—detailed definition of outcome, staffing demands, timelines, production platforms, delivery systems and necessary, but not always considered, back-up. It is much harder to place demands upon contract workers than employees. And they have to manage a lot of variables that would fall to management and maintenance if they were working under a common roof.

Manufacturing and many service industries will still require employees who show up for work in a physical location every day. But research, development, and many services that do not require physical contact, and increasingly education, don’t and won’t. This means that the skills needed to thrive as a professional in a virtual world are very different than anything students and employees were prepared for years ago.