Remote work was already a growing phenomenon well before 2020. The pandemic merely added rocket fuel to that fire.
Corporate America has spent the past couple of years trying to extinguish that flame, increasingly swapping out their COVID-era fully remote policies with hybrid or even full return-to-office (RTO) initiatives.
Regardless, remote work remains insanely popular with Americans—and depending on your field, you could have myriad opportunities to not only work from home, but get paid well for doing so.
The Tea: A few weeks ago, we talked about how the “Great Resignation” has given way to the “Great Stay.” The post-COVID flood of American workers job-hopping their way into better pay has slowed to a trickle—opportunities are fewer and farther between, and employees’ focus has shifted toward staying where they are and keeping their jobs secure.
WealthUp Tip: You don’t have to choose between something you love and something that pays well. Quite a few fun jobs can be lucrative, too.
Powering the “Great Stay” is a tighter job market—one in which employers don’t have nearly as many open roles, nor a need to offer screamingly better pay and benefits to fill them. And as power has slowly shifted back from employees to employers, they’ve begun to crack down on remote-work policies, increasingly demanding that their workers spend some, if not all, of their time in the office once more.
We say “crack down” because, for the most part, Americans have fallen in love with remote work, and all the benefits it provides. As a group, they want to be in the office a whole heckuva lot less than they have to be.
For instance, according to WFH Research’s July 2024 Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA), the greatest desired amount of post-COVID work-from-home days among full-time wage and salary employees who are able to work from home is five days per week, at 32%.
The most frequently reported current amount of WFH days actually offered to the same group of respondents? Zero days, at 37%.
But even if workers aren’t moving from one job to the next like they were a couple years ago, they’re certainly looking for remote opportunities—in growing numbers, in fact. Flexible workspace platform Spacepool notes that, according to its observation of Google search volumes over the past year, remote job searches have surged by 40% in six months.
The nature of those searches varies, of course. Some people are just curious to learn about all the various remote jobs that exist. But millions of people are using Google to find out where they can find remote work in specific roles. For instance, Spacepool found that “data entry” is tops at 318,020 average monthly searches, followed by “customer service” (270,890) and “nursing” (114,200).
Here’s a look at Spacepool’s full list:
The Take: It might be, however, that you’re not just looking for remote work—but remote work that also pays pretty darn well.
Good news: These jobs not only exist, but in many cases, they exist in droves.
WealthUp Tip: If you didn’t go to (or graduate from) college, don’t worry. These high-paying jobs don’t require a college degree.
We’ve put together a longer version of our research on high-paying jobs that can be done remotely on WealthUp.com, but below, we’ll list a few of the most lucrative. This research is based off the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which was compiled from May 2023 and released in April 2024. The annual mean wage for all occupations, according to BLS data, is $65,470—and all of the jobs we’ve found in our research pay an average annual salary that’s more than double that number.
Public Relations Managers
- 2023 mean annual wage: $159,420
- 2023 employment: 72,760
A popular saying goes, “All publicity is good publicity.” Well, many public relations managers probably disagree with that assessment. Above all else, a public relations manager focuses on helping an organization or client maintain a positive reputation. A few of the ways a worker might carry out that goal are by assigning and reviewing the activities of public relations staff, creating promotional materials, and developing crisis communication plans.
There are downsides, of course. PR managers frequently exceed 40 hours of work each week, and they’re often asked to work evenings and/or weekends for special events or in response to emergencies. But they’re paid awfully well to do it.
Marketing Managers
- 2023 mean annual wage: $166,410
- 2023 employment: 368,940
Marketing managers are often responsible for a wide range of tasks. These workers may have to develop pricing strategies, create or evaluate marketing strategies, and coordinate product promotions, among other tasks.
Marketing managers’ jobs might be listed as “full-time,” but they often work much more than 40 hours each week. They might need to start work early or finish late because of conference calls or urgent projects. That said, their typical salary is more than $100,000 better than the annual mean wage for all occupations.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
- 2023 mean annual wage: $172,290
- 2023 employment: 207,800
Within their respective fields of engineering, architecture, or the research and development of those fields, you’ll find architectural and engineering managers. These managers handle planning and coordinating activities. They may also be responsible for determining staff, training, and equipment needs, hiring and supervising staff, and proposing program and project budgets.
WealthUp Tip: Some jobs might boast sky-high salaries, but their futures aren’t exactly clear.
Again, these are usually full-time roles where extra hours are par for the course, especially when there are deadlines to meet. And they require a decent amount of education—at least a bachelor’s degree in architecture or engineering, though many management roles will want you to either have a master’s degree or work on one while you’re employed as a manager.
Financial Managers
- 2023 mean annual wage: $174,820
- 2023 employment: 787,340
Financial managers make sure an organization’s health is financially sound through planning, coordinating, and directing financial activities. These employees communicate frequently with top executives and departments that develop data they need for analysis, ensure legal compliance of financial reporting, and analyze market trends to maximize sales and earnings.
The BLS will tell you that financial managers can sometimes work more than 40 hours per week. We’re here to tell you that it can be a lot more than that. But, on the rare occasion you’re not in the office, you’ll have plenty of money to spend on enjoying life.
Computer and Information Systems Managers
- 2023 mean annual wage: $180,720
- 2023 employment: 592,600
Computer and information systems managers, commonly referred to as information technology (IT) managers or IT project managers, come from several different types of fields, such as information systems, electronic data processing, systems analysis, and computer programming.
While these workers must be knowledgeable within their fields, they aren’t always directly doing that work, but rather directing the activities of other employees. They’re also typically in charge of other high-level tasks, such as assessing costs and benefits of new projects, planning installation and maintenance of technology systems, negotiating with vendors, and determining personnel needs. Note that “computer occupations” is a separate employment categorization.
Yet again, these are full-time roles that sometimes demand more than a full 40 hours. But they’re rewarded with some of the highest pay among jobs that can be done remotely.
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That’s all from us this week! We hope you have a great weekend, whether you connect with the great outdoors or spend some quality time with your couch.
Riley & Kyle
WealthUp & Young and the Invested
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