Work-from-home jobs are positions that individuals can perform at home, rather than going to an office every day. Working from home is not the same as working remotely, where workers routinely work outside an office though the concepts are often used interchangeably.
Remote work does not require presence in a company office to be completed. Companies can hire workers from their local community or other parts of the country or world. Once hired, a worker can do the job from a home office, a coffee shop, a coworking space shared with others, or anywhere.
This can save a person an average of 55 minutes to and from work commute, plus improve their work-life balance, reduce streets, increase productivity, and more.
What opportunities exist for those who want full or part-time work-at-home remote jobs?
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How Does Working From Home Differ From Remote Work?
“Working at home” describes remote workers. In contrast, “working from home” was a perk afforded to some workers who may have to report to the office periodically.
These days, the terms “work-at-home” and “work-from-home” are often interchanged.
Over 66% of Americans do remote work, while 92% of employees work remotely at least one day per week.
During the recent pandemic, many workers were told to stay away from their offices and work at home most days in hopes of containing the spread of Covid. These employees joined the growing workforce of remote workers, many of whom never report to a worksite.
The number of those working remotely went from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million people), according to the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Employers who feared workers would slack off and be less productive when not under direct management surveillance found that productivity did not suffer.
Now many workers have returned to the office, but the experience of working outside the office convinced workers and employers of the value of working remotely. Over 66% of workers would prefer to remote work full-time and be part of the permanent “work at home” crowd.
What Type Of Work Can I Do From Home?
Those who work at home might be full-time or part-time and employees or contractors. Independent contractors, also known as freelancers or gig workers, have the most flexibility; employees might have some flexibility but may have more work rules that govern their jobs.
All remote jobs require a solid and steady internet connection and a high degree of self-motivation.
Jobs involving information gathering, processing and communication, coding data, teaching, and counseling can often be done remotely. Recent studies have shown that only 25% of jobs can be done remotely. Those requiring physical and manual duties, who use fixed equipment, and whose job requires them to interact with the public are not good candidates.
This leaves out:
- Retail and hospitality workers
- Personal care services workers, such as food service workers and hairstylists.
- Workers in transportation, such as taxi drivers, subway operators, bus drivers, and flight attendants
- Police, fire, and EMS workers
As the chart below shows, those who make the least and who deal with the public as part of their job, were the least able to work from home during the pandemic and are the least likely to be able to do so in the future if they want to stay in their current line of work.
| Type of Work | Examples | % of Workforce | # of Workers | Median Income |
| Work using computers without much interaction with the public | Business, finance, architecture, engineering, software development | 25% | 35.6 million | $63,000 |
| Work using computer and public interaction | Management, healthcare, policing, education | 34% | 52.7 million | $57,000 |
| Work that doesn’t involve computers or public interaction | Construction, maintenance, production, farming, or forestry | 20.10% | 29 million | $40,000 |
| Work with public interaction but no computer use | Retail, food and beauty services, protective services, and delivery of goods | 18.90% | 27.4 million | $32,000 |
Future growth in remote work will come in areas where the computer is a major part of the job. Workers equipped with technology can work to support any industry in lower-paying jobs or assume lucrative higher-level positions.
Which Work Is Best For Work At Home?
Many fields offer opportunities for work-at-home jobs and for work-from-home jobs as well. Some titles listed under the listed fields below are appropriate for seasoned professionals, but most areas have positions suitable for newbies in the field and new to remote work jobs.
As with onsite jobs, training, experience, skills, and aptitude open the door to more responsible positions.
Virtual administrative assistants, customer service representatives, sales and marketing, and writing are areas where inexperienced remote workers can get started. Those who have had training in bookkeeping or medical billing might find remote jobs that used their skills.
Accounting and Finance
Accountant, auditor, bookkeeper, collection agent, controller, finance manager, and certified public accountant.
Administrative
Executive assistant, office manager, virtual administrative assistant
Computer and IT
Information technology specialist, quality analyst, solutions architect, systems administrator, systems engineer, technical support
Consultant
Business adviser, business solutions analyst, coach, consultant, executive trainer
Customer Service
Customer care, client service representative, contact center agent associate, customer service representative, virtual call center agent
Education and Training
Coach, curriculum developer, faculty, teacher, instructor, tutor, and paraprofessional, in addition to educator and trainer
HR and Recruiting
Employment manager, head hunter, personnel manager, staffing consultant, talent scout
Internet and E-commerce
internet developer, software engineer, operations manager, technical support, website design
Marketing
Advertising manager, business development manager, and pretty much anything with marketing (or sometimes, sales) in the job title
Medical and Health
Healthcare information specialist, insurance representative, medical transcriptionist, medical billing, pharmaceutical representative, research scientist
Mortgage and Real Estate
appraiser, asset manager, leasing agent, mortgage analyst, mortgage manager, real estate agent, timeshare and vacation rental representative
Project Management
Business analyst, enterprise consultant, project manager, program manager, research coordinator
Sales
Account executive, business development, lead generation, anything with sales (or often, marketing) in the title.
Writing
Blogger, editor, columnist, content manager, copywriter, journalist, reporter
What Are The Pros Of Working From Home?
Working at or from home comes with the stereotype of pajama-wearing people gliding comfortably through their day. In reality, while working remotely has no dress code, successful workers get up, get dressed in comfortable clothes, and get focused to be successful.
Those who work “from home” as an alternative to going into work are often expected to be working at certain times of day and may need to attend online Zoom meetings that require them to be appropriately dressed.
Those with “at home” jobs may have more flexibility, depending on the job, but they are expected to produce and meet deadlines.
A 2019 remote work study by Owl Labs found that workers liked working at home for four main reasons:
- To maintain better work-life balance (91%)
- To increase productivity/maintain better focus (79%)
- To have less stress (78%)
- To avoid a commute (78%)
Other advantages include:
- To save money on lunches, coffee, and parking
- To have the flexibility to manage kids, pets, and errands
What Are The Cons Of Working From Home?
Working from home requires diligence and discipline. It can be tempting:
- To get sidetracked and not get to work
- To stick to a routine
- To spend unnecessary money ordering-in food or online shopping
- To become bored without interaction with other colleagues
- To let work overtake you and not ever stop working
Working remotely means you might be able to sneak in a nap or a long lunch with a friend once in a while. But if you don’t have a self-imposed schedule and workflow, you may find that working outside of an office is not for you. Too much Netflix and social media interaction can nibble at your focus.
While working onsite can be a hassle, having a set routine and people around keeps some workers feel like they are more in the loop professionally and socially.
How Do I Find A Job To Work From Home?
Whether you are starting your job search for full-time work-from-home opportunities or some part-time supplemental income, you can find job listings on sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor, Flexjobs, and ZipRecruiter, as well as on sites that specialize in remote positions. A growing list of these includes:
You will find that many companies, such as Amazon, have job postings for in-person and work-from-home jobs. While companies list job opportunities on the sites mentioned, they may have job listings of interest on their company website too. If you want to work at a certain company, its website is the place to start.
When you are looking for a new job, you can find plenty of online help to show you how to showcase your skills.
For example, if you are looking for a job as a data entry clerk, PayScale.com will show you that common skills include typing, data processing, sat entry, Microsoft Excel, and customer service, so you should showcase these in your resume.
The pay range for this job title spans $11.28 to $19.81. If you have additional skills in billing, accounts receivable, tax preparation, or oral/verbal communication, you might be able to find jobs that pay more.
Unfortunately, many scam artists are at work in the virtual HR world. Many fake jobs come to you in unsolicited emails, social media postings, phony emails from legitimate employers, fake sites, and even legitimate job boards. Follow these steps to verify job listings.
Your common sense is your best friend in job searching.
- If “Amazon” sends you a work-from-home job listing and the email to reply to [email protected], you are right to assume the email address is questionable. Genuine Amazon communications would come from amazon.com email addresses.
- If the listing asks you to pay for the opportunity, it is not a legitimate job.
- If you see a job for stuffing envelopes at home that pays an exorbitant amount, the opportunity is probably fake.
As Worker, Find The Best Job For You
What Is The Easiest Job To Work From Home?
Some work-from-home jobs are considered to be “easiest” if you consider:
- The ease of entering the field
- The potential for gathering experience that can lead to better opportunities
- The flexibility of hours
- The lack of stress
You need a degree, training, or experience to qualify for some jobs, but jobs titles that meet the above criteria include:
- Bookkeeper
- Freelance Writer
- Social Media Manager
- Transcriptionist
- Virtual Assistant
Applying the term “easy” to these work-from-home jobs does not mean they lack challenge.
What Are The Most Flexible Work-From-Home Jobs?
Many people need flexibility if they have kids to get to and from school and soccer practice, pets who need walking, or an elderly loved one who needs care.
Jobs such as customer service may not work well as they have set hours where you are expected to be available. You might be able to find such jobs that are part-time or at night that work with your schedule. Positions that are most flexible include:
- Audio Transcribing and Video Captioning
- English Tutoring
- Freelance Writing
- Graphic Designer
- Online Customer Support Jobs
- Online Researcher
- Pet Sitter
- Proofreading
- Short Tasks
- Social Media Manager
- Translation
- Virtual Assistant
What Are The Most Lucrative Work-From-Home Jobs?
Jobs that require a special skill set plus training and experience tend to pay the most.
- Affiliate Marketing Manager
- Animator
- Copywriter
- Computer Support Specialist
- Customer Support Representative
- Freelance Editor
- Front-end Developer for Websites
- Grant Writer
- Online Teacher/Tutor
- Sales Representative
- Technical Writer
- Virtual Assistant
How Much Can You Expect To Make At Home?
The rate that companies pay for online jobs varies, but Payscale.com offers some useful data for work-from-home job seekers. Entry-level positions that are flexible and easy to get and that do not require extensive specialized training tend to pay these average wages:
- Captioner $14.74
- Customer Service Representative $15.38
- Data Entry Clerk $15
- Medical Coder $20.02
- Proofreader $19.41
- Transcriptionist $17.15
- Website Tester $25
- Virtual Bookkeeper $18.86
- Virtual Assistant $14.73
Joining the world of remote workers can be a fruitful and exciting adventure. If you present your skills well and look in the right places, you should be able to find lucrative work-from-home jobs that offer you the flexibility and money you need to get started.
