In the years since COVID-19 made remote and hybrid work a necessary reality, many members of the workforce have come to see working from home as the ultimate benefit: It’s associated with flexibility, work-life balance, and reduced stress. However, fully remote work is not an option for a number of positions or industries, and even hybrid positions can be very competitive. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 21.7% of workers over 25 teleworked at least some of the time in October of 2023—and that plummets to less than 1 in 10 workers over 25 without any college experience. Meanwhile, those with bachelor’s degrees saw their hybrid opportunities double from February 2020 to October of 2023: More than a third (34.7%) work from home for pay at least some of the time.
While remote or hybrid work may be desirable, competing for these positions requires workers to develop specific skills or enter specific industries where these positions are more common. Fortunately, data shows where workers can focus their time and energy to build a resume suited for these opportunities.
Why Do Workers Love Working from Home?
While remote work rose as a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, workers have come to appreciate the many benefits of being able to work from home at least part of the time. According to Pew Research Center, those who work from home at least some of the time note how doing so helps them in their work and personal lives alike:
- Remote works helps 71% with their ability to balance their work and personal life.
- Nearly 3 in 5 (56%) rely on remote work to help them get work done or meet deadlines.
- Meanwhile, working remotely has no impact on whether workers are given important assignments (77%).
- Nearly 2 in 3 (63%) consider remote work to have no impact on their ability to get ahead, while 18% go so far as to say it helps.
And it’s not just workers: Employers have reason to provide remote and hybrid opportunities as well, with productivity leading the charge. According to McKinsey & Company, 83% of workers list productivity and efficiency as a primary benefit of working from home—with companies able to reap potentially 5% gains in productivity as a result.
What Industries and Positions Offer Remote or Hybrid Opportunities?
As the benefits of remote work become more evident, more and more industries are shifting to offer it at least some of the time to workers with the right qualifications. In fact, McKinsey & Company finds that even positions in food service or healthcare offer at least some WFH opportunities.
But if workers are looking to maximize their opportunities for remote or hybrid work, certain industries are more likely to offer them:
- Workers looking for fully remote opportunities can focus on business and financial operations, where 61% of workers have the option to work from home full-time; workers can also focus on computers and mathematics, where 52% of workers can work fully remote. Many creative workers can also find work from home opportunities: 53% of workers in arts, entertainment, sports, design or media are able to work remotely full-time. These industries are also conducive to part-time WFH opportunities, which are available 25%, 37%, and 35% of their workers, respectively.
- Hybrid opportunities, in which workers can work from home part-time, are also readily available in a number of industries, including architecture and engineering (35%), community and social service (34%), and law (30%). Full-time remote opportunities are also available in these industries (40%, 40%, and 46%, respectively).
- Management presents strong opportunities for fully remote (45%) or hybrid (27%).
Workers can also consider whether upskilling or reskilling within their industry might present more opportunities. For example, while 27% of healthcare practitioners have full-time work-from-home opportunities, the number rises to 31% of healthcare support positions and 33% among office and administrative support.
What Skills Are Most In Demand for Remote or Hybrid Work?
While BLS data suggests that higher education is correlated with more opportunities for remote or hybrid, it’s not just industry knowledge that remote or hybrid workers need to master; they also need to master the soft skills necessary to be productive in a virtual environment. This means a parallel focus on soft skills, also known as durable skills, such as:
- Organization and time management
- Communication, including creative writing and public speaking
- Teamwork and leadership
Fortunately, these skills are not only attainable, but transferable: Workers can develop them in different industries and carry them to another. This means that those working in industries with fewer remote or hybrid opportunities can build soft skills to improve their opportunities in industries with more of them.
Where Can Workers Develop Skills for Remote or Hybrid Work?
Workers seeking more opportunities for remote or hybrid work can consider a number of pathways:
- Seeking educational opportunities such as bachelor’s degrees, which are associated with more opportunities to work from home.
- Upskill or reskill to pursue positions remote or hybrid positions within their industry or organization.
- Pursue skills, including soft skills or durable skills, that transfer across industries and enable workers to seek work in different fields where these opportunities may be more readily available.
Workers can evaluate programs like those at University of Phoenix according to these paths and consider how well they meet their needs. In particular, University of Phoenix programs emphasize career-focused skills across industries; meanwhile, University of Phoenix’s online programs offer hands-on experience with virtual work and collaboration environments that can provide direct insight into real-world applications of the skills necessary to thrive in a remote or hybrid working environment.
