Good-paying work-from-home jobs used to be the stuff of fantasy. Nowadays the prospect of earning good money while never having to commute or drive to the office has become a much more realistic goal for countless millions of professionals around the world.
The work-from-home job market has exploded since 2020. That is hardly a secret. The labour market for remote employment continues to see unabated expansion even as many companies try to call employees back to their offices.
Private companies had to quickly adapt to remote work setups to ensure business continuity and the safety of their employees during the pandemic.
Today, as the world moves another year deeper into the post-pandemic new normal, the future for work-from-home jobs looks more promising than ever.
The top US analytics company, Gallup, projects that about 75 percent of remote-capable workers will be hybrid or fully remote in the long term.
In fact, the unprecedented forced work-from-home experiment has led many employers to discover that a fully remote workforce means vast reductions in expenditures for utilities and energy consumption, office maintenance, and even office furniture and equipment.
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How Do Work-from-Home Jobs Benefit Employees and Employers Alike?
Recent research reveals that the flexibility that comes with working from home has led to higher levels of employee satisfaction. This has led to improved work outcomes almost across the board.
Studies have measured a significant 35 percent decrease in the number of employees leaving their jobs since the pandemic.
“The majority of today’s workers have made it clear they value job flexibility and more specifically, remote work options,” says Kathy Gardner, the vice president of communications at FlexJobs. “Among remote jobs, work-from-anywhere jobs are even more desirable,”
Meanwhile, more and more employers are beginning to see the benefits of increased employee retention.
Prithwiraj Choudhury, an associate professor at Harvard Business School who studies work-from-home jobs, says companies understand that they simply cannot afford to lose qualified employees in today’s labour market.
This is particularly so for top talent when there are fewer gifted candidates available for the positions they need to fill. “In any economic environment, top talent always has outside options,” says Choudhury.
Better Recruitment Options, More Access to Talent
Research has also shown that one of the benefits of the pandemic-driven increase in remote work is that it has given employers access to a much larger talent pool.
Work-from-home job arrangements permit companies to recruit from a much wider geographic area.
Instead of being limited to hiring individuals who can commute to a physical office, remote work allows companies vast opportunities to tap into a larger talent pool from different cities, states, or even countries.
This is especially advantageous for roles that require specialized skills for which finding qualified candidates locally might be challenging.
The increase in work-from-home jobs offers an even bigger cultural benefit for progressive, forward-looking companies. Remote work is a great way to support diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Because remote work reduces the need for face-to-face communication, it breaks down barriers and prejudices based on appearance and perception.
Such discriminations have long prevented certain groups, including disabled workers and people of colour, from entering – and excelling – in the labour market. They have also served to narrow the talent pool available to employers to particular groups.
6 Best Work-from-Home Jobs for the Modern Professional
Gardner says she sees more work-from-home job opportunities across a number of industries that now dominate the remote job marketplace. There is also a good mix of jobs that require college diplomas and jobs that don’t necessarily require anything more than experience and talent.
To land a good work-from-home job, she suggests that you apply the same rules and strategies you would employ for any job application.
“Be ready to tailor your resume and cover letter, point out any remote work experience that you’ve previously had, and showcase your remote work skills,” Gardner says.
Below are six exciting work-from-home jobs that employers are likely to offer modern professionals right now.
1. Financial Managers
Nothing beats the thrill of making money. Financial planning roles typically involve coordinating accounting activities, creating financial reports, generating cash-flow statements, forecasting profits, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
Good, transparent, and intelligent financial management is crucial to the success of any business. It helps entrepreneurs to understand the financial health of their endeavours. One cannot make informed decisions for a commercial venture without a clear and accurate understanding of the stakes involved.
Financial transactions are becoming increasingly intricate and far-reaching. This likely explains the positive global outlook for jobs in financial management at the moment. If you have any background in bookkeeping and accounting, then this job is possibly a good fit for you.
As businesses expand internationally and markets interconnect, managing financial transactions will become more challenging.
Financial managers will perform a crucial function in handling all these new complexities, especially in industries like securities and commodities, where investment management requires a deep understanding of global markets and regulations.
2. Marketing Managers
Marketing managers are responsible for supervising and coordinating campaigns that convey a brand or organization’s message to its intended audience. Their goal is to drive the success of products or services by developing exciting and effective marketing strategies.
Many applicants in this field hold bachelor’s degrees in related disciplines. Common fields of study include communications, journalism, advertising, or other subjects typically associated with creative thinking. However, a college degree is not strictly necessary.
While a degree in these areas is common, experience and demonstrated skills in marketing strategies, campaign management, market analysis, and communication are typically equally crucial for success in this role.
Success in this field opens vast opportunities throughout the always dazzling, colourful, and constantly evolving digital marketing industry.
3. Web Developers
Web developers are responsible for creating and constructing websites. They possess the skills needed to design the layout, structure, and functionality of websites.
The work involves coding, programming, and implementing features that make websites functional and user-friendly.
This competitive profession pits you against the best in the world – and you’ll be pleased to know that the playing field is relatively level.
While many web developers work for marketing firms or large organizations that manage multiple websites, there’s also a significant number of web developers who work independently, operating as freelancers.
Experts consider web development a high-demand field. This demand often results in high competition but excellent earning potential.
One notable advantage is that many web developers have the option to work remotely from home. The nature of the work, which involves computer-based tasks, allows for this flexibility.
4. Software Developers
Software development positions are among the highest paid in the IT sector. The position does not necessarily require a master’s degree.
As of May 2021, software developers in the US earned an average annual salary of $120,730, according to available data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Most of the positions that we get on the software side are remote, but we are seeing more and more clients that want a hybrid environment,” says Thomas Vick, the regional director at Robert Half, a global employment agency.
Half say software developers typically prefer work-from-home job arrangements. So much so that companies that insist on seeking on-site candidates face a huge disadvantage.
“The companies that are asking candidates to be completely onsite are struggling to find the quality of talent that they are looking for,” says Half.
5. Human Resource Managers
Jobs in human resource management are projected to see significant growth in the coming years along with the average growth in employment openings for practically all occupations.
High-paying senior roles in human resource management typically demand a substantial amount of experience and expertise. Candidates aiming for such positions need to demonstrate their proficiency in their field.
This is why networking is crucial for anyone who wants to find good work-from-home job opportunities in human resource management. It’s not just about what you know but who you know.
Reconnecting with former colleagues and engaging with online professional groups, and actively participating in platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, and LinkedIn can significantly enhance your chances.
High-paying senior roles in human resource management typically demand a substantial amount of experience and expertise.
6. Graphic Designers
Graphic designers specialize in creating visual content. Their work involves crafting various marketing and design elements such as logos, custom images, website landing pages, marketing materials, and more. They employ design software and tools to bring their creative ideas to life.
Graphic designers often work independently, spending a significant amount of time using design software to produce their creations.
Given the creative nature of the work, many companies offer graphic artists work-from-home job opportunities. This allows graphic designers to manage their workload and creative process more flexibly.
Many graphic designers also choose to offer their services in online learning platforms for additional income.
These platforms provide opportunities for professionals in any field to offer their skills, connect with clients, and take on tutoring roles that match their expertise and interests.
Now is the Time to Look for a Work-from-Home Job
Labour market analysts anticipate substantial changes in salary trends across the labour market in 2024. Researchers in the US say average private sector annual salaries in the US grew at a rate of 15.2 percent in October for people who changed jobs.
Analysts have also noted some increases in employee salaries in Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, in Australia, union workers recently won an 8.6 percent pay increase for minimum wage workers and a 5.75 percent increase in the salaries for Award wage workers.
Many of those who saw their paychecks grow last year were employees who worked from home.
These increases explain – at least in part – why analysts expect the job market for remote workers to grow tighter even as more employees offer more work-from-home job opportunities.
The International Labor Organization estimates that the number of people engaged in home-based work doubled to over a billion after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That proportion continues to grow today.
For modern professionals hoping to have it all by securing a satisfactory salary while enjoying the flexibility of a work-from-home job, Gardner recommends that applicants include a technology section on their resumes.
She says the section should highlight your proficiency with remote collaboration tools such as Zoom, Google Drive, and Slack.
Networking will also be important. Maintaining a good network helps you to gain insights and stay updated with industry trends.
Strong networking may also help to open doors to vacant work-from-home jobs that might not be publicly advertised.
Over time, the changes the pandemic has created in the labour market will likely become more subtle. But this does not mean their consequences will be small.
Before the pandemic, the world saw itself plunging into a productivity crisis. Workers seemed to be working longer hours, drowning in e-mails and spending 8-hour days glued to their monitors, but getting less and less work done.
The solutions that now make work-from-home jobs sustainable— better organization and simplicity, less hit-or-miss decision-making and better employee satisfaction —may also help solve these other long-standing problems in knowledge and creative work.
So, it’s turning out that better work-from-home job opportunities for some may mean better work satisfaction for all. And now seems the perfect time to get in on it.
What do you think?
