As gas prices continue to spiral upwards, many employees are counting the cost of getting to and from work. For some who commute long distances, it could almost seem like an employment tax. They have no choice but to drive to get to their jobs, and yet they have seen gas prices double since 2002. Sure public transport is an option, but not for everybody. Even car pooling is not an option when you live out in some of the more rural areas and have to commute in to the city.

For many people, the answer has been to give up the long commute times and associated fuel costs and look at work from home opportunities. Some have successfully persuaded employers that their role can be carried out at least as well from their own home offices. Still others have not only given up the commute, but also corporate life as they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and start their own home based businesses.

As more and more home based businesses are starting up, so is the need to staff them. Business owners who can not or do not wish to directly hire people can now have their business staffed by outside contractors who work virtually from their own home offices. They can contract a graphic designer to design their logo, a web designer to build their website, a book keeper to keep their accounts in order, and even a Virtual Assistant to take care of their administrative and marketing needs.

Web designers, computer programmers, graphic designers, and book keepers, are just a few of the occupations leading this trend towards working virtually from their own home offices. One of the fastest growing groups of seasoned professionals who have left the corporate world to become entrepreneurs is Virtual Assistants.