When the pandemic first took hold in 2020, and many workplaces around the world closed their doors, a grand experiment in work-from-home began.
Today, well over a year after the first lockdown measures were put in place, there are still lingering questions about whether remote work would now become a commonplace option, or whether things would generally return to the status quo in offices around the world.
New data from LinkedIn’s Workforce Report shows that remote work may be here to stay, and could even become the norm in a few key industries.
Broadly speaking, 12% of all Canadian paid job postings on LinkedIn offered remote work in September 2021. Prior to the pandemic, that number sat at just 1.3%.
While this data was specific to Canada, the country’s similarity to the U.S. means that these trends are likely being seen across the border as well.
Which Industries are Embracing Remote Work?
The nature of work can vary broadly by job type—for example, mining is tough to do from one’s living room sofa—so remote jobs were not distributed equally across industries.
Here are the numbers on job postings that were geared towards remote work:
Industry% Remote (Sept 2020)% Remote (Sept 2021)Change (p.p.)
Software & IT Services12.5%30.0%17.5
Media & Communications12.5%21.3%8.8
Wellness & Fitness3.3%21.2%17.9
Healthcare3.2%14.4%11.2
Nonprofit4.6%14.1%9.5
Hardware & Networking2.2%12.9%10.7
Corporate Services5.2%9.5%4.3
Education9.4%8.8%-0.6
Entertainment3.0%7.7%4.7
Finance1.8%6.5%4.7
Consumer Goods2.2%6.0%3.8
Recreation & Travel0.2%3.7%3.5
Manufacturing1.4%3.0%1.6
Energy & Mining1.0%2.7%1.7
Retail0.5%0.7%0.2
Tech and healthcare industries are showing big shifts towards remote work, with the latter being influenced by a number of tech-driven changes, including telemedicine.
Physical distancing measures forced some industries to pivot quickly. Whether virtual fitness and wellness options (e.g. Peloton and Headspace) would remain popular beyond the pandemic was a big question mark, but this jobs data seems to indicate continued digital growth in these industries.
What the Future Holds
Since COVID-19 outbreaks are still underway, the true test for this trend will be whether these numbers hold up a year or two from now. When offices and gyms are reliably open again, will companies dial back the work-from-home options?
Today, hybrid solutions are proving popular amidst worries that fully distributed teams suffer from lower levels of collaboration and communication between colleagues, and that innovation could be stifled by lack of in-person collaboration.
Of course, employees themselves are reporting being more productive and happy at home, with 98% of people wanting the option to work remotely for the rest of their careers.
It’s clear that the culture of work is undergoing an evolution today, and companies and employees will continue to seek the perfect balance of productivity and happiness.
