The number of fully remote jobs has grown 17% over the last year according to recent research. Here are the career categories growing fastest.
A fully remote job is defined as one that can be done entirely from home. Recent research from Flexjobs shows that the top 20 career categories saw at least 17% growth in fully remote jobs year-over-year.
The career categories with the highest number of fully remote jobs span a wide range of roles and industries:
- Engineering
- Business Development
- Data Entry
- Communications
- Client Services
- Operations
- Nursing
- Sales
- Account Management
- Environmental & Green
- Education & Training
- Banking
- Medical & Health
- Product
- Advertising & PR
- Bilingual
- Legal
- Art & Creative
- Social Media
- Administrative
Technical areas are well-represented with engineering in the top spot and the healthcare industry taking two spots. People-focused jobs are also in the mix with business development, client services, sales and account management in the top ten. If you’d rather stay behind-the-scenes, data entry is the third fastest-growing area, and operations and administrative make the top 20. There is even something for the right-brain-leaning job seeker with communications at number four, and advertising & PR, art & creative and social media making the top 20.
Help with the job search
Getting a clearer picture into who is hiring lets you know which industries, companies and/or roles to target. Rather than just relying on job postings, use the list to brainstorm companies who might not be posting widely or only posting on their website. Knowing that such a wide range of fields is showing double-digit growth should boost your job search motivation and help soothe the inevitable ups and downs that come with looking for a job.
Even if your first choice isn’t on this list, the diversity in the list might help you negotiate for remote work in your next role since so many other areas are clearly jumping on the work-from-home bandwagon.
Why you should care about remote work
If you aren’t currently looking for a job, you should still care that the remote work trend is on the rise for so many industries and roles. You may want to negotiate for flexibility down the road, and the growing field of remote jobs helps your case. As you think of how to advance or even just maintain your career, knowing that companies are hiring for skills and results, not face time, means that you should focus on expanding and updating your own skills and curating a work portfolio that demonstrates tangible results. Finally, starting to think about remote work – if you can do it, how you would do it – is important in case your current employer decides to go remote.
The increase in remote job postings is encouraging but there are other signs pointing to a cooling job market in 2025. As a job seeker, you have to be competitive. Your LinkedIn profile and resume needs to match what you want to do, not just what you’ve done. You need to know how to interview persuasively and avoid common interview mistakes
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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