The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 3 plus 7 letter word ON THE PAYROLL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
O
N
T
H
E
P
A
Y
R
O
L
L
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "employed by the company" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case employed by the company = on the payroll.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.