What type of industries allow working from home?
Did you know that 43% of workers say that they spend at least some of their time working from home? This number is sure to grow in the upcoming years for the benefits we discussed above. Most industries post remote positions, but there are specific industries that you're more likely to find remote work than others. For example, it would be pretty difficult to work in the foodservice industry and prepare food from behind a computer.
Here are some industries that are giving the green light to remote work:
Customer Service
The days of the giant call centers are gone. Today, many companies hire customer service agents anywhere in the country as they can communicate with and help customers over the phone, by chat, or via email. This flexibility means customer agents, technical support representatives, and others in the customer service industry can work from home pretty efficiently. If you are good under pressure, empathetic, and enjoy interacting with people, the customer service industry is one to consider.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry employs remote workers in a wide variety of roles and sectors. Some of the most common remote positions include billing specialists, schedulers, insurance agents, patient advocates, and medical coders. As telemedicine becomes more accepted by patients, registered nurses and even doctors may find opportunities to work outside of the office. The healthcare industry is expected to grow 14 percent by 2028, and many new positions, both full-time and part-time, will present remote opportunities.
Education
From part-time tutoring to course curriculum development, there have never been more opportunities to work in education and never have to step foot in a classroom. Time and budget constraints have caused more people to look at online options that offer more flexibility and affordability. Teachers and tutors can reach students anywhere in the world, and online schools and course marketplaces are popping up as demand increases. This means more remote opportunities for education professionals.
Sales and Marketing
Sales is about direct communication with customers and persuading them that they need your product to fulfill a specific need. While you certainly need to be knowledgeable of your products and services, an excellent communicator, and self-motivated, the one thing you don't need is an onsite office. Many salespeople telecommute and contact customers over the phone, via email, or in-person at the customer's location.
Marketing managers, copywriters, web designers, videographers, and lead generation specialists are responsible for developing branding and getting the right message to the right audience. They typically work in front of their computers and may use design programs, like Photoshop or Illustrator, or analytics and inbound tools, like Google Analytics or Hubspot. These roles can easily be performed from home as well through RDP and cloud-based software.
Administration
You don't have to be in an office to run it. Many administrative assistants work online to schedule meetings and appointments, speak to vendors, manage an executive's schedule, oversee projects, handle HR tasks, and more. As long as you are relatively fluent with certain software and technologies and have excellent interpersonal skills, there are remote opportunities available for companies of all sizes and industries. The most common administrative positions you will find include administrative assistant, office manager, and executive assistant positions.
Web, Software, and Information Technology
You can find a web, software, or IT job outside of Silicon Valley. Many companies recognize they are limiting the talent pool when they just look at candidates from the coasts. Increasingly, web, software, and IT jobs are being performed remotely by computer-savvy professionals from anywhere across the globe. The most current opportunities include web maintenance, IT support, computer programming, and systems engineering positions. This is a fast-growing industry, but you will need to have experience or a degree in a relevant field.