The Best Remote Jobs Companies Are Looking To Fill Right Now
Now is a great time to be searching for the best remote jobs, because companies are more eager to hire than they have been in years. As of February 2022, the unemployment rate had declined nearly to pre-pandemic levels, with the persistent worker shortage continuing to drive wages up and push employers to offer more competitive benefits to attract candidates.
If you have the right mix of tenacity and technical skills, a great selection of remote jobs is available to you. We’ll talk more about the remote work market and share 15 of the best remote jobs to collect a paycheck while working from home.
The remote work market
More and more people are doing their jobs without ever setting foot in an office. The number of people who telecommute has grown by 159% since 2005, and that doesn’t account for self-employed people who work from home either full- or part-time. As of 2019, the number of freelancers in the U.S. was just shy of 60 million, or about 35% of the workforce.
These numbers have climbed even higher since the onset of the pandemic, with millions of businesses forced to shutter their brick-and-mortar locations. An overwhelming number of companies have realized the advantages of a remote workforce and completely restructured their staff as a result.
If you’re looking for a job you can do from home (or anywhere), here are 15 of the best remote jobs on the market right now.
The best remote jobs on the market
1. Customer service agent
The customer service industry was one of the earliest adopters of remote workers, staffing call centers with offsite agents around the world. Now, customer service goes beyond just answering phones; companies are striving to meet their customers on every channel possible, including live chat, email, and social media. Remote workers play a key role in ensuring each of these channels are manned and inquiries on them resolved efficiently.
With customer service becoming more of a business priority, more companies are bucking the offshore call center trends of the ’90s and ’00s in favor of fully US-based agents, which presents a great opportunity for remote workers domestically. If you have a background in retail, communications, or other public-facing fields, you might be a good fit for a remote customer service job.
2. Virtual assistant
No matter what industry you’re in, a large portion of business takes place online. Upper-level executives in fields from finance to fashion make use of virtual assistants to help manage their calendars, respond to emails, post to social media, file digital documents, you name it.
According to market reports, virtual assistants are in high demand, with thousands of listings on platforms like Upwork, Guru, and Freelancer.com.
A good virtual assistant is detail-oriented, responsive, and thrives on organization. If this sounds like you and you’re fluent in mainstream software programs like Word, Excel, and G-Suite, a virtual assistant role might present the perfect opportunity to work from anywhere.
3. Graphic designer
It’s typical for graphic designers to work with many different clients without ever physically visiting their headquarters, which makes graphic design one of the best remote jobs. Graphic designers create visual concepts for digital assets, like websites and social media posts; physical collateral, like business cards and mailers; and even media campaigns like television ads.
To work successfully as a remote graphic designer, you’ll need to be able to stay on top of lots of different deadlines at once, many of which are often in flux. You’ll also need to have a skill for taking a client’s ideas and transforming them into visual form in a way that achieves the campaign’s goals. Most importantly, you’ll need a strong portfolio of work to use to land clients.
4. Developer
Software developers are one of the most in-demand positions in the workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the market for developers is expected to grow by 22% by 2030, much faster than the average growth for all industries. Being a developer is one of the top-paying remote jobs, with a median pay of around $53 an hour or $110,000 a year.
Developers may work on building software, websites, or apps using one or several coding languages like Python, JavaScript, or Ruby. While a degree in an area like computer science can be helpful, in this field there are ample free online resources that can help ambitious learners become proficient in coding without formal training.
5. Content marketer
Content marketing is a relatively new field, but it’s one that has exploded over the past decade. It’s an umbrella term that covers the planning and creation of content for numerous channels, including social media, blogs, email newsletters, and more, on behalf of a brand. According to a survey by Smart Insights, content creation is far and away from the number one content-related task companies outsource, which makes it one of our top remote jobs.
Content marketers should be able to think strategically about how to use content to build value for an audience while simultaneously driving results for an organization. You’ll need to collaborate with graphic designers, copywriters, sales personnel, and members of leadership, so being a strong communicator is key to success in this remote role.
6. Sales Rep
Not all remote jobs are done in front of a computer. Sales is one industry that allows you to work remotely via phone or in-person calls. If you’re good at it, it can be quite lucrative; the top earners in sales roles bring in over $100,000 a year.
This is one of the best remote jobs for people who are ambitious, outgoing, and not afraid of hearing ‘no’ over and over before closing a deal. Remote sales jobs are available in industries of all kinds, from software to solar panels and everything in between.
7. Teacher
Whether you’re a certified teacher looking to make some extra money or someone with a niche skill looking to share it with others, online teaching can be a promising source of remote work.
Some remote teaching jobs are with virtual schools that take traditional K-12 curriculum online, like K12.com. Others, like VIPKid, enlist fluent English speakers to teach the language to kids overseas. Still, other remote teaching jobs come directly from parents hiring private tutors to give extra help to kids in subjects where they’re struggling. Then there are DIY platforms like Udemy that allow anyone with a computer to set up online courses in the topic of their choice.
The bottom line is that if you have a skill and know how to help others learn it, you can make a living via remote teaching.
8. Medical biller and coder
Every time a doctor sees a patient, someone must see that the visit is properly coded, processed, and billed to the appropriate payer. That person is a medical biller or coder. Medical billing and coding is one of our top remote jobs if you’re looking for flexibility or want to work outside the typical 9-to-5 office hours.
To become a medical biller or coder, you’ll need a special certification like certified coding specialist (CCS) or certified professional coder (CPC0. You may also need an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in health science or a related field, though this isn’t always required.
9. Accountant
They say only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. As long as there are taxes, people will need accountants. BLS data puts the median annual wage for accountants around $73,000 a year, with consistent growth projected over the next decade.
While a large segment of accountants help people and businesses with their taxes, remote accountants can also be a resource to help small businesses with standard bookkeeping needs. You can find full-time remote accounting work as an employee of a company or as an accountant-for-hire who works on a freelance basis with many different clients.
10. Social media manager
A social media presence has become a must-have for modern brands, and yet many small businesses are too strapped for time to manage it with any consistency. If you’re wise to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, you may have a calling as a remote social media manager.
A social media manager strategizes, creates, and schedules social media posts on behalf of companies or individuals. You’ll be responsible for fielding inquiries, engaging with followers, analyzing what type of content performs best, and tracking the results of your efforts. If you’re creative and excel at working independently, this could be a compelling remote job for you.
11. Consultant
If you’re a professional with a successful track record of experience in your field, a transition to consulting can be one of the top-paying remote jobs. Consultants work with companies in an advisory role, providing guidance in areas of business like management, marketing, security, and IT.
To become a successful consultant, you’ll need strong networking skills to connect with potential clients. You’ll need to either have some marketing know-how to attract and close prospects or hire someone to serve this function for you. A diverse professional network is also a plus and will help you land your first remote work clients.
12. Recruiter
When companies are struggling to hire, they turn to recruiters. This, in turn, is driving demand for recruiters themselves. In addition to tracking down hard-to-find candidates, recruiters assist with screening applicants, coordinating interviews, and negotiating job offers.
The average pay for recruiters is a healthy $63,000 a year, with strong job growth projected through 2030.
13. Project manager
In industries from marketing to lawn maintenance, project managers oversee the various moving parts of a project, ensuring activities are happening on time and according to plan. They coordinate between the different parties involved on a job and may also assist with preparing budgets.
As long as you’re easily accessible by phone, email, or chat interface, this job is a great fit for remote work.
14. Speech language pathologist
A speech language pathologist helps diagnose and treat communication issues in children and adults. Before the pandemic, workers in this field would typically travel to a client’s home or workplace to meet with them. Even though in-person meetings are returning, many clients have responded positively to the ability to meet with their pathologist virtually, driving demand for remote professionals.
Job growth for speech language pathologists is projected at a much-higher-than-average 29% over the next decade, with a current median salary of $80,000 a year.
15. Data scientist
Are you good with numbers? Do you thrive on finding patterns and putting order to chaos? Then the job of data scientist might be perfect for you. This role, which wasn’t even on the radar ten years ago, is now one of the most in-demand positions competitive firms are looking to fill.
