Leveraging remote work jobs to spend more time with family

According to the Office for National Statistics, it’s highly likely that  50% of the UK workforce will work remotely by 2020.

Flexible working is fast becoming the norm, and it’s easy to see why. It’s great for employees, enabling them to schedule their own hours and spend more time with family, engage in activities they love or spend time learning new skills. But it’s also beneficial for employers who don’t have to spend money on a permanent desk space.

In fact, employees expect flexible options such as remote working or four-day weeks to be part of the package now. It is often cited as the number one perk and works wonders for staff recruitment and retention. The ability to work from home also has a huge impact on productivity because of the positive impact it has when it comes to well-being and happiness. 

In this article, you’ll find out about what is means to be a remote worker and how to leverage remote work jobs to spend more time with family. 

What is remote work?

A remote worker is someone who, instead of working in a company’s office, does their job “remotely” - usually from home, in a cafe or a coworking space. Remote workers are sometimes known as Digital Nomads, although this actually refers to people who travel the world while working from their laptop.

Remote workers can be split into two categories:

Freelancers 

A remote worker can be someone who is self-employed and works remotely for one or multiple companies, or who runs their own business. Self-employed people might choose to rent a virtual office to gain credibility and get access to meeting rooms for when they need to meet clients. 

Freelancers can typically set their own hours, enabling them to spend more time with family- not to mention the time saved on commuting!

Remote employees

A remote worker can also be someone who works from home for a company. They still get many of the benefits a “typical” employee does, such as sick pay and holiday pay (which freelancers don’t). Many mums take on remote roles to achieve a better work-life balance. 

What types of popular remote work jobs exist?

Some industries lend themselves to remote work more than others that rely heavily on face-to-face interaction (healthcare and education, for instance). That said, even traditionally “face-to-face” roles such tutors and therapists are conducting their practice online nowadays.

A few popular remote jobs:

Content and marketing 

Social media marketers, video editors, content writers, and PPC campaign managers are all popular remote work roles because they’re mainly conducted online and can technically be done anywhere, as long as there’s a good WiFi connection! 

Customer service

The development of mobile and cloud technology means that customer service advisers no longer need to rely on call centre environments but can conduct their work in the comfort of their own home, away from noisy distractions. 

Accounting

The majority of an accountant’s work can be done remotely. Platforms such a Skype enable them to conduct meetings online. For informal face-to-face meetups, there’s always the local cafe and for more formal arrangements, a co-working space can offer a solution.

Virtual assistant

Virtual assistants carry out many of the tasks an in-house one does, but remotely. Call answering, scheduling and diary management are all done using apps and cloud solutions.

Companies offering remote work positions for employees

Bear in mind that lots of startups offer remote positions because it’s in their best interests, both financially and in terms of attracting the best talent in a hyper-competitive marketplace. 

But a lot of established brands have also embraced the trend.

This includes the likes of:

• Dell
• Amazon
• Apple 
• Wikimedia Foundation
• Github
• Gartner
• Johnson & Johnson

How to find remote jobs

It’s fairly easy to find remote jobs vacancies online nowadays. If you’re seeking a remote role in a company, try the following popular websites:

• indeed.co.uk
• flexjobs.com
• reed.co.uk
• theguardian.com/jobs
• glassdoor.co.uk
• remoters.net
• workingmums.co.uk

Some are dedicated to remote positions. For the more generic job sites, type the key word “remote” before the job title. 

Freelancers can also use these websites, as well a “gig” sites like Upwork and People Per Hour to find short-term projects. The power of LinkedIn also shouldn’t be underestimated - in fact, a new hire is made every 10 seconds through LinkedIn, the world’s number one professional networking site. 

Create a profile if you don’t have one, connect with recruiters and write that you’re looking for “remote work” in your bio. 

Good luck!