Image: iStock/jacoblund

Certainly, 2020 was the year of COVID-19, which spread devastation throughout the world, and one of its numerous impacts was a swift and dramatic upheaval of the enterprise. In an effort to slow the spread, office workers were sent home to telecommute, thus, eventually normalizing remote work. Those once opposed to it have grudgingly realized the benefit of the dispersed workforce and many companies have now given employees the option to make the move to telecommuting permanent. The job-seeker site FlexJobs has just released its eighth annual “Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs” list, which, in addition to companies that most seek remote workers, includes the types of jobs most likely to offer remote opportunities.

“The coronavirus pandemic has permanently reshaped the workplace and how, when, and where people work,” said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs, in a recent post on the FlexJobs site. “Business models have been forever disrupted with the realization that remote work is smart, strategic, and sustainable for companies to embrace, improving not only the bottom line but also providing benefits to the overall workforce.”

The new report is based on the job-posting histories of approximately 57,000 companies from January to December 2020. Companies and positions were classified as “remote,” which meant some level of remote work, including during the pandemic, 100% remote work, hybrid positions as well as companies that give employees the option to work remotely. 

SEE: One-third of employees would take a pay cut for better work-life balance (TechRepublic)

Top career fields

Those in the area of computer/IT and healthcare have the most opportunities for remote jobs, followed by project management, sales, accounting and finance, customer service, and marketing.

The fastest-growing career categories were assessed from March to December 2020, by the growth of remote positions were marketing, administrative, HR and recruiting, accounting and financing, graphic design, customer service, writing, mortgage and real estate, internet and e-commerce, and project management. 

“While a wide variety of jobs can be done from home, some of the most popular remote job titles include accountant, customer service representative, nurse, project manager, recruiter, teacher, web developer, and writer,” Flexjobs said.

Top tech-related companies for remote work

  1. Lionbridge
  2. TTEC
  3. Liveops
  4. Sutherland
  5. Citrix
  6. BELAY
  7. Oracle
  8. Thermo Fisher Scientific
  9. UKG – Ultimate Kronos Group
  10. VIQ Solutions
  11. Twilio
  12. Dell Technologies 
  13. CrowdStrike
  14. Veeva
  15. SAP 
  16. Red Hat
  17. Shopify
  18. NTT DATA
  19. GitHub
  20. Keywords Studios
  21. Elastic
  22. SAIC – Science Applications International Corporation
  23. Motorola Solutions
  24. Tanium
  25. Parexel 
  26. TEKsystems
  27. ServiceNow
  28. Alight Solutions
  29. Cisco
  30. Leidos
  31. Kraken
  32. Collabera

The total top 100

The complete list of the top 100 best companies for remote work (all industries). Asterisks indicate companies which have made FlexJobs’ Top 100 list every year since 2014:

1Lionbridge

2TTEC

3Liveops

4Working Solutions

5Kelly Services/Kelly Connect *

6Williams-Sonoma

7TranscribeMe

8Sutherland

9Robert Half International

10Transcom

11UnitedHealth Group *

12Cactus Communications

13Citrix

14EF Education First

15Randstad

16K12 *

17Supporting Strategies

18Aerotek

19Kforce

20BELAY

21Amazon

22VocoVision

23Oracle

24Thermo Fisher Scientific

25Salesforce *

26Motion Recruitment Partners

27Pearson Online & Blended Learning K-12

28CVS Health *

29UKG – Ultimate Kronos Group

30Aetna

31Ajilon

32Accounting Principals

33PRA Health Sciences

34Aquent

35Anthem, Inc. *

36VIQ Solutions

37Citizens Bank

38Twilio

39Pearson

40IQVIA

41Dell Technologies *

42CrowdStrike

43KPMG

44Humana *

45Veeva

46SAP *

47Red Hat

48Philips

49Shopify

50Atlassian

51Apex Systems

52Paylocity

53Achieve Test Prep

54NTT DATA

55Haynes & Company

56eXp Realty

57GitHub

58Home Point Financial

59Keywords Studios

60Elastic

61Boldly

62SAIC – Science Applications International Corporation

63Beacon Hill Staffing Group

64General Dynamics Information Technology

65Syneos Health

66Adecco

67SPECTRAFORCE

68Wells Fargo

69Motorola Solutions

70Tanium

71ADP *

72Parexel *

73Pega – Pegasystems, Inc.

74Grand Canyon Education – GCE

75Vaco

76Merck

77Change Healthcare

78Literably

79TEKsystems

80LanguageLine Solutions

81ServiceNow

82Alight Solutions

83Cisco

84USAA

85ReCharge Payments

86Stryker

87FlexProfessionals

88Flagstar Bank

89Western Governors University – WGU

90Vitamin T

91Upwork

92Leidos

93Capital Group Companies

94Soliant Health

95Kraken

96Pfizer

97McKesson Corporation

98Vistaprint

99Collabera

100Profit Factory

Tips on finding and landing a remote job

FlexJobs recommends that job seekers do research and suggests starting with companies, products, and services you admire. They caution against scams and suggest your initial research should include identifying the legitimacy of the company. Lastly, if you’re a job seeker who is not entirely certain of what you want to do, FlexJobs recommends you consult with a career coach.

Remote work is definitely a thing now, with 95% of respondents to a previous FlexJobs report saying they’re as productive or much more productive working from home. 

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