As a remote worker myself, I’m particularly interested in the state of America’s remote (aka, virtual) workforce.
And that’s what makes FlexJobs new interactive U.S. Remote Job Market Map such a highly useful resource, because it tells you just about anything and everything you would want to know, in-depth, about the remote job market in each of the 50 states.
In other words, it offers highly detailed, state-specific information on remote workers such as:
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Percentage of remote workers in each state;
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Percentage of remote workers in the major cities within each state;
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Ranking of which states have the most remote jobs posted;
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Remote-friendly companies headquartered in each state;
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Examples of successful remote job seekers/workers;
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Average daily commute time in each state; and,
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Statewide flexible and remote work policies and legislation.
Would You Believe That 5 percent of Workers Are Remote?
What also grabbed me — in fact, what really got me to dig into the U.S. Remote Job Market Map — were the larger, nationwide statistics that FlexJob was able to pull out of this research that “clarify the makeup of the U.S. remote job marketplace.” For example:
- The national average of remote workers in the U.S. is approximately 5 percent.
- Colorado has the highest remote worker population (7.9 percent) with Mississippi coming in last (2.2 percent);
- Boulder, Colorado is the city with the highest percentage of remote workers at 14.9 percent.
- New England and Mid-Atlantic region employers are the most likely to offer remote work options.
- The average U.S. worker can save at least $4,600 annually by working remotely.
- The average daily commute is 26.1 minutes. Half-time remote workers gain back 11 days a year … time they would have otherwise spent commuting.
- The top seven career fields with the most remote jobs in the U.S. are Medical and Health, Computer and IT, Education and Training, Sales, Customer Service, Accounting and Finance, and Travel and Hospitality.
- The most common remote job titles in the U.S. include: account executive, accountant, business development manager, consultant, engineer, project manager, teacher, tutor writer.
This is all great information that should be highly useful for any company who has remote workers, is thinking of adding remote workers, or wants to make a better case for the value of having workers who are based remotely.
In fact, this data should really help any talent manager make the case for WHY having remote workers makes so much sense.
“As these numbers demonstrate, remote work overall is on the rise,” said Sara Sutton, CEO & Founder of FlexJobs, in a press release about the job market map, “which is a trend we expect will continue growing in 2019, especially given the tight labor market and demand for remote work options from job seekers.”
A Great Resource If You Deal With Remote Workers
Here’s my take: If you’re like me, you will probably jump into FlexJobs U.S. Remote Job Market Map and immediately dig into the statistics for your own state.
I did that for California, where I live, and I wasn’t surprised to see the Golden State’s remote worker population at 5.8 percent, or slightly above the national average. Nor was I shocked that California ranks No. 1 in the overall number of remote worker jobs, because there are nearly 40 million people out here and I know a lot of them are working remotely.
What did surprise me, however, was that Montana, a state I used to live in, ranked so high with a remote worker population of 6.4 percent, although was way down at No. 45 in the number of remote jobs.
Another state I resided in — Hawaii — ranked No. 49 in the number of remote jobs, and that probably tells you all you need to know about people who choose to live in paradise.
Of course, there’s a lot more great information in FlexJobs U.S. Remote Job Market Map, and job seekers who dig into it will probably like the breakdown of the top companies that are hiring remote workers in each state.
That’s all good, of course, but the big takeaway here is that the U.S. Remote Job Market Map is a great resource for anyone in TA who needs or wants the latest information on remote workers all across America.
I’m sure there other other resources out there as well, but this looks to be a must-have that any TA pro dealing with remote workers needs to get started.