Perhaps the best thing to come out of the pandemic was the rise of remote jobs, which are now no longer just acceptable, but are preferred by many workers.
But four years later, many job hunters are getting a surprise when they search for remote positions on popular job sites: fewer and fewer companies are offering remote work as a full-time option.
Keri Shinault is among those who started working from home when the pandemic hit and never wants a return to the daily commute.
"It was two hours a day, driving," she said."It was a disaster."
Not having a brutal commute for her HR job now gives her more time to spend with her children and at her hobby, painting.
"I love that it is flexible," she said. "And I have a better work-life balance than I ever had."
Fewer full-time remote positions
Fully remote jobs like Shinault's are getting harder and harder to find now in 2024.
Forbes magazine said it's finding 23 percent fewer listings for full-time remote work compared with the spring of 2023, and those numbers were already down from 2022.
Instead, many companies have shifted to hybrid work, with 3-4 days in the office and 1-2 days each week at home.
Even some school districts are moving to a 4-day school week, with Mondays remote.
Among them is the North College Hill school district in Cincinnati. Superintendent Eugene Blalock said teachers and students love the new program and have much less stress.
"My teachers have been reignited, it's been interesting as I talk to them as I walk around," he told us as the school year began. Now, with the year coming to a close, they plan to continue the 4-day-a-week experiment for next year.
Who is still hiring
The site FlexJobs lists companies still hiring remote workers in 2024. They include:
- Working solutions
- LiveOps
- CVS Health
- Kelly Services
- United Health Group
- Hopper
- Zillow
You can see the full list from FlexJobs here.
If you are like Shinault and love at least a few days at home, you should still be able to find plenty of hybrid job opinions this year.
But the competition for fully remote jobs is tougher now. Forbes said twice as many people are looking for full-time remote work as there are job listings.
So you may have to work harder to find those positions.
As always don't waste your money.
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