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Remote work has been a popular way of life for many years. But the recent changes to the employment landscape due to COVID-19 got us thinking…will more companies implement remote work versus getting their teams back in-office?
Also, what types of jobs will recently laid off talent be searching for?
“A recent study from Randstad found that as many as 65% of people saw a good work-life balance as the most important factor when looking for work.”
(source: Comparethemarket.com)
And, in a poll of 1,000 UK employees working from home because of the pandemic:
“68% feel they are either more productive or equally productive from home.”
(source: Costwold Co.)
Top 50 Remote Jobs (by position)
We did a search on ahrefs.com for the top 50 remote jobs candidates search for and the results are quite interesting.
First, we searched “Remote Jobs” (151,000 Google searches per month) and found an extensive list of job titles across multiple industries. The top 50 most searched remote jobs are listed in the chart below, among the top job titles searched are Web Developer, Project Manager, Virtual Assistant, Recruiter, Nurse, Health Coach, Technical Writer, Paralegal, and Travel Agent.
The Top 50 Remote Jobs (by category)
We also found the top 50 most searched Remote Job Categories. Remote data entry jobs, remote writing jobs, remote customer service jobs, remote accounting jobs, and remote graphic design jobs round out the top 5 most-searched virtual job categories.
Virtual Jobs vs. Office Jobs
Working remotely once meant setting up a virtual office in your home instead of going into a physical office space. But within the last 5 to 10 years more companies are giving their employees the flexibility to work from anywhere.
A recent article “Work from Home is dead, long live Work from Anywhere” by Danny Crichton, managing editor at TechCrunch, explains why working from home may make people feel isolated; while working from anywhere is much more freeing. In the article Danny says,
“Many of us will choose to work from home, and many of us will habitually return to the same working environment each day even if it isn’t our home. That’s fine. Flexibility doesn’t mean constantly changing everything up — it means we can change things when we want and need to.”
Freelance writer Courtney Rubin’s article “The Office is Dead,” says,
“According to a recent study by SquareFoot, which specializes in helping businesses find office space, found that companies in New York City spend an average of $17,020 per employee annually on office space.”
and
“Google’s parent company Alphabet pulled out of deals to acquire more than two million square feet of office space.”
Will leaving office space behind be a growing trend? Most employees seem to be pleased with the transition, if so.
Just In: 84% Now Prefer to Work Remotely
A table at a corner coffee shop or a hot desk at a coworking space may be the picture of productivity for some, while others prefer to hunker down in their dedicated office space each day. Regardless, remote work is certainly gaining momentum. We polled (via Instagram stories) over 100 working professionals worldwide and 84% of them prefer to work remotely. 3 reasons why:
- Flexibility
- Autonomy
- Change of Scenery
Trent Youngling, a survey respondent and Senior Talent Advisor at Salesforce said,
“Working from home gives you the autonomy to have a healthy worklife balance rather than being glued to a desk for 8+ hours daily, not to mention the commute back and forth.”
For the 16% who preferred working at an office, they said:
- Face to face interaction with clients is required
- “At-home” work is too distracting
- Working remotely feels too isolated
Facebook Expects 50% to Take Remote Work Option (Post-COVID)
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started hitting companies around the world back in March; layoffs, furloughs, and salary cuts have run rampant. But as life steadily gets back to normal, a new cost-saving trend is starting to emerge. Companies like Twitter and Facebook are giving their employees the option to work remotely on a permanent basis. Katie Paul from Reuters published a blog about just that. In her article, “Facebook’s remote working plan could change Silicon Valley forever”, Katie says,
“Zuckerberg expects half of Facebook’s workforce to take up the offer of working from home permanently over the next 5-10 years.”
Closing offices and offering employees more flexibility is not the only plus to this new trend. The health and safety of employees is also a top priority for executives. According to Jack Kelly from Forbes, other companies leading the remote work charge include:
- Square
- Coinbase
- Shopify
- Upwork
- Lambda Schools
- Microsoft
- Slack
- Zillow
- Amazon
- Salesforce
- PayPal
Managing remote employees will be an important skillset for executives as these types of jobs continue to grow. Also, technologies like Zoom and Google Hangouts continue to evolve with the times, and so does how candidates search for jobs.
When looking for a new gig, having the option to work remotely may be just as valuable as an extra week of paid vacation time, especially among younger professionals. Whether it be remote jobs, virtual jobs, or work from home jobs, many candidates are searching for flexibility when it comes to their next big career step.
Why I wrote this
Ongig’s Career Site Builder lets you create a Remote Jobs/Work from Home custom microsite landing page (so we’ve always got our eyes on this topic!). Here are some amazing work from home microsites which are extra valuable these days because many offices are still closed due to COVID. Knowing what candidates are searching for gives you a head start for recruiting and hiring remote employees.
