The tech sector emerged as the top industry for remote work in the U.S. last year. That's not so surprising when you consider the nature of the workforce within the sector, many of whom are individual contributors.
You might be one yourself: an employee who contributes to the success of the team and wider business, but who doesn't manage other people. Individual contributors are often those who have developed specialized skills – such as software engineers, for example.
Project managers, technical writers and product marketing managers are also top of the list of jobs that often don't need to be office-based. For people who do work that requires concentration and immersion, and who often may prefer to do that work outside of a traditional nine to five, remote working is a boon.
It makes sense then that in the U.S., as of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees worked from home, with 28.2% working a hybrid schedule and according to Upwork around 32.6 million (22%) Americans will work remotely by 2025. While many Americans have acquiesced to return to the office mandates and are back at their desks for much of the working week, those who are firmly set on remote working are willing to take a stance on keeping it.
While many Americans have acquiesced to return to the office mandates and are back at their desks for much of the working week, those who are firmly set on remote working are willing to take a stance on keeping it.
So much so that according to a recent survey of over 8,400 U.S. workers, nearly two-thirds (63%) said they'd take a pay cut to be able to work remotely, and 17% said they'd sacrifice up to 20% of their paycheck to do so. Even more surprisingly, 10% said they'd give up more than 20% of their earnings to hang onto remote work.
Workers value more than money when it comes to their jobs. In a cost-of-living crisis and an environment of flat or nonexistent pay raises, it can still make sense for a lot of people to stay put, even if they take home less money.
That's because going into the office takes time as well as dollars. There are commuting costs like gas and tolls, lunches, take out beverages, and after work drinks. Staying at home means you may be able to save on some of your childcare costs, you won't have to pay a dog walker or pet sitter, and there's far less need to maintain a more expensive work wardrobe.
If you're determined to keep your remote working streak on track then there are plenty of companies hiring for WFH jobs. The TechSpot Job Board is an ideal place to start your search, thanks to its dropdown option for 'Remote USA'. Below, find three companies hiring remotely right now.
.NET Backend Developer (remote), Decrypt, Mill Valley
Decrypt Media is seeking a skilled .NET Backend Developer to join its dynamic software development team. You will be responsible for creating and maintaining backend services to support business applications, and will collaborate with a team of developers, designers, and project managers to deliver high-quality software solutions for Decrypt and Rug Radio web3 platforms.
To be considered, you'll need proficiency in C# and .NET Core, familiarity with relational databases such as SQL Server, an understanding and experience with ORMs such as Entity Framework Core Code First, as well as experience with RESTful API development, and preferred experience with OData protocol. Interested? Find out more here.
AI Content Writer, DataAnnotation, Remote
This AI Content Writer position is a full-time or part-time remote role, where you'll be able to choose which projects you want to work on, and you can work on your own schedule. You should be curious, detail-oriented and eager to teach AI chatbots.
You will have conversations with chatbots in order to measure their progress, as well as write novel conversations in order to teach them what to say. You will need to come up with diverse conversations, write high-quality answers, compare the performance of different AI models, as well as research and fact-check AI responses. Find out more here.
Geospatial Data Engineer, Envision, LLC, Remote
As the Geospatial Data Engineer, you will participate in the building of large-scale image data processing systems and APIs and should be able to leverage common image and geodata formats to work with the latest open-source technologies. You'll embrace the challenge of dealing with terabytes or even petabytes of data daily in a high-throughput API/microservice ecosystem, and will understand how to apply technologies to solve complex problems that bring value to new and existing data-processing pipelines.
This role will drive the engineering and building of geospatial data assets to support image processing pipeline, and as such you will require a BSc degree in a geo-science, image science, computer science, engineering, or physics (or relevant job experience) as well as at least three years' of experience with Python. Get full details.