FlexJobs Names 10 Emerging Career Categories for Fully Remote Jobs

Opportunities to work fully from home continue to grow amid evolving workplace

Fifty-eight percent of workers would prefer to work remotely full-time after the pandemic. The majority of surveys and data collected over the last 19 months strongly indicate that both employees and companies agree that remote work is beneficial and productive. In fact, the expected growth rate of full-time remote work over the next five years has doubled from 30 percent to 65 percent. With many companies committing to remote work for the long-term, job seekers now have more opportunities than ever to work remotely.

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To help job seekers identify the budding careers for fully remote jobs in particular, FlexJobs analyzed more than 50 career categories in its database, comparing the number of 100 percent remote jobs posted in January 2021 vs October 2021. Through this analysis, FlexJobs determined ten emerging remote career categories that have grown more than 30 percent in 2021.

“The pandemic has highlighted the positive impact that remote work can have not only on the personal lives of workers, but also on the bottom line for businesses,” said Brie Reynolds, Career Development Manager and Coach at FlexJobs. “While industries across the board are embracing remote work as a result of the pandemic, there are some careers for remote jobs that are growing at a higher rate than others. We hope highlighting these smaller but growing career categories for fully remote jobs will create new inroads and opportunities for job seekers to explore,” Reynolds concluded.

This list excludes the top categories that routinely dominate the remote job marketplace (computer & IT, medical & health, project management, marketing, education & training, and accounting & finance). A “fully remote job” is defined as a professional-level job that allows the worker to work completely from home 100% percent of the time. These categories are ranked in order from highest to lowest growth.

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In addition to seeing some of the highest remote growth rates, the highlighted categories are part of the knowledge economy, which relies on ideas and information and naturally supports jobs that can be done from home. With improvements to technology, and increasing demands from employees amid an already competitive market for finding talent, it’s likely this momentum for fully remote careers will continue upwards.

1. HR & Recruiting
2. Operations
3. Internet & Ecommerce
4. Insurance
5. Graphic Design
6. Virtual Administration
7. Communications
8. Social Media
9. Legal
10. Statistics

To help job seekers secure a fully remote job, the FlexJobs career coaching team has also provided the following checklists to consult in the remote job searching process:

Checklist for Reviewing a Remote Job Description:

• Does the job description say specifically if remote work is offered? If so, how much? (In other words, is it a fully remote job or a hybrid office/remote job?)
• Does the job description mention that applicants must be based in a certain location to apply?
• Is the job a remote job but also requires a lot of travel or on-site work in other locations?
• Research the job and company before applying to make sure it’s legitimate and not a scam. Sites like FlexJobs, Glassdoor, and Virtual Vocations can provide good information.

Checklist for Remote Job Interviews:

• What home office equipment is required and recommended for the job? And what, if anything, does the company provide?
• What is the onboarding process like for remote workers?
• How are remote meetings typically held? (phone call, videoconference, audio-only conference, etc.)
• If it is a hybrid team with some people working in the office and some from home, how does the company make sure remote workers are a part of the team?
• What are the main ways this team communicates? And what sorts of tools are used for communication and collaboration?