Virtual Vocations shares its 2020 Year-End Report and Remote Jobs Statistics. This is the company’s sixth annual statistical analysis of the top industries, states, and companies for remote jobs.
The report also contains details about company records broken in 2020, an overview of Virtual Vocations job board growth during the previous six years, national remote work statistics, and a demographic profile of a typical remote worker—as determined by multiple Virtual Vocations surveys—including how remote workers and remote jobseekers view working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Select the button below to view and download the 2020 Year-End Report and Remote Jobs Statistics PDF or follow this link.
Summary of 2020 Remote Jobs Statistics
In 2015, Virtual Vocations began researching and aggregating remote work and virtual employment statistics into annual reports outlining key facts, trends, and insights into the state of remote work. During 2019, Virtual Vocations shattered expectations by logging 197% growth in the number of remote job postings added to the Virtual Vocations board from 2015 to 2019, but the surge in available remote jobs throughout 2020 exceeded even this unprecedented job growth.
Virtual Vocations has been a leading remote job board since 2007. In our company’s history, 2020 was the most successful year for remote job board growth. For the first time, more than 50,000 remote job openings were added to the job board in a single month. Better still, this record continued for three consecutive months with more than 160,000 remote job openings added to the Virtual Vocations database during the fourth quarter of 2020 alone.
Overall, more than 460,000 remote job openings were added to the Virtual Vocations job board in 2020, equaling a 53% increase in the number of remote jobs added to Virtual Vocations’ database from 2019 to 2020, and an impressive 355% increase from 2015 to 2020.
For further comparative analysis, previous Virtual Vocations year-end and telecommuting statistical reports can be found on the following pages:
CEO’s Statement on the 2020 Year-End Report and Remote Jobs Statistics
The past year has seen unprecedented growth in remote jobs due to the effects of COVID-19. Pre-pandemic remote work rates had been climbing year over year, but the acceleration seen in 2020 has pushed working remotely to a whole new level, and we expect that to continue to fuel growth at a faster pace in 2021. We are excited about the progress that has been made with employers who have accepted remote work as a viable option for their employees. We anticipate the next year will bring even more opportunities for employees and employers alike to experience the advantages of remote work.
Laura Spawn, Virtual Vocations CEO & Co-Founder
Top 10 Industries for Remote Jobs
The Virtual Vocations job board boasts more than 40 categories of remote jobs. Categories range from expected telework career fields like information technology and customer service to less obvious telecommute-friendly industries like human services and healthcare.
For 2020, the following remote career fields were the most prevalent for available remote job openings. Information technology, which has reigned as the top remote jobs category since 2016, continued its championship run as the number one field for remote work. Approximately 20% of all remote jobs added to the Virtual Vocations job board in 2020 were labeled as IT positions. Yet again, sales and healthcare rounded out the top three; however, they did flip-flop positions from 2019. Account management dropped from fourth to ninth and education moved up a spot from fifth to fourth. Financial remote jobs, which were not ranked in last year’s top 10, placed fifth. This was the highest jump in available remote jobs for any industry within our top 10.
Project management fell from sixth to 10th; meanwhile, human services changed one spot from seventh to eighth. Customer service moved up two positions to the sixth best remote jobs industry. Marketing, however, climbed three places from 10th to seventh. Consulting remote jobs did not make the top 10 this year; in 2019, consulting jobs were the ninth most prevalent remote work industry. Project management jobs entered the list as the 10th best remote jobs category.
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Information Technology
Information Technology Remote Jobs Examples:
2
Healthcare
Healthcare Remote Jobs Examples:
3
Sales
Sales Remote Jobs Examples:
4
Education
Education Remote Jobs Examples:
5
Financial
Financial Remote Jobs Examples:
6
Customer Service
Customer Service Remote Jobs Examples:
7
Marketing
Marketing Remote Jobs Examples:
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Human Services
Human Services Remote Jobs Examples:
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Account Management
Account Management Remote Jobs Examples:
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Project Management
Project Management Remote Jobs Examples:
Top 10 States for Remote Jobs
Depending on a state’s employment laws, an employer’s preferences, or requirements for specific job openings, some remote jobs may be location-specific. Among all the location-specific remote jobs added to the Virtual Vocations job board in 2020, most were for the following states.
1
Top Five Remote Job Industries in California for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Healthcare
4. Education
5. Teaching
2
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Texas for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Healthcare
4. Account Management
5. Customer Service
3
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Florida for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Healthcare
3. Sales
4. Customer Service
5. Account Management
4
Top Five Remote Job Industries in New York for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Account Management
4. Healthcare
5. Education
5
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Illinois for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Healthcare
4. Account Management
5. Education
6
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Georgia for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Healthcare
3. Sales
4. Account Management
5. Education
7
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Virginia for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Healthcare
3. Sales
4. Education
5. Customer Service
8
Top Five Remote Job Industries in North Carolina for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Healthcare
3. Sales
4. Project Management
5. Customer Service
9
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Pennsylvania for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Healthcare
4. Education
5. Account Management
10
Top Five Remote Job Industries in Massachusetts for 2020:
1. Information Technology
2. Sales
3. Healthcare
4. Account Management
5. Education
Top 10 Companies for Remote Jobs
The Virtual Vocations Telecommute Companies Database features remote than 26,000 researched profiles of remote-enabled companies. Within the thousands of businesses and organizations Virtual Vocations searches or works with directly to find the most current, in-demand remote job postings, these 10 companies were responsible for more telecommute job openings than any others. During 2020, Virtual Vocations posted remote job openings from nearly 16,000 companies that value flexible, remote, and work at home jobs.
1
VocoVision
VocoVision, an educational and therapeutic services company, posted more remote job openings than any other employer found in the Virtual Vocations job board in 2020. Throughout the year, we added more than 4,500 remote job openings from VocoVision to our database.
This remote-friendly company provides schoolchildren with access to specialized and certified school therapists and professionals via state-of-the-art video conferencing software as well as other online and mobile technologies. VocoVision’s team is dedicated to making teletherapy fun for patients while eliminating location and language barriers. From 2019 to 2020, the number of available remote jobs with VocoVision increased by more than 20%.
2
UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (UHG) is a diversified managed healthcare company and ranks seventh on the Fortune 500. Over the last year, the number of UHG remote job openings found in the Virtual Vocations job board increased by more than 45%. The company offers telecommuting positions throughout the U.S. for both fully remote and partially home-based occupations. Due to the company’s size, as well as its mission and services, qualified professionals can work remotely for UHG in a variety of career areas like insurance, healthcare, sales, marketing, information technology, clinical services, and more. 
3
Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.)
For more than 20 years, Stride, Inc. has served as an online education leader and hybrid company employing on-site as well as off-site employees and contractors. The company, which is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, provides education offerings for K-12 schools, school district solutions, career and college preparation, and career and corporate bootcamps. As of 2021, more than 2 million learners have enrolled in a Stride affiliated school or learning program.
On December 16, 2020, K12 Inc. changed its corporate name to Stride, Inc. In 2020, the Virtual Vocations job board featured more than 2,500 remote job openings from Stride. 
Stride, Inc. ranked sixth on the Virtual Vocations Top 25 Employer Partners for Remote Work in 2020 list.
4
Oracle
Oracle is a global computer technology company ranked 82nd on the Fortune 500. The company designs, manufactures, and sells both software and hardware products and focuses on database management systems, cloud engineered systems, middleware, business applications, business intelligence products, and enterprise software products. Oracle also offers financing, training, consulting, and hosting services as well as training and professional certifications via Oracle University.
This company offers telecommute-friendly careers that may require occasional travel. In 2020, Oracle offered more than 1,600 remote job opportunities in sales, engineering, development, support, consulting, and a variety of corporate functions. Health, retirement, tuition, and wellness benefits are available with the company.
5
Humana Inc.
From 2019 to 2020, Humana climbed 11 spots on our top 100 list to take fifth place. Headquartered in “The Bluegrass State,” this Kentucky-based remote employer is one of the largest health insurers in the country. As of 2020, Humana holds the 52nd spot on the Fortune 500. From January through December, the Virtual Vocations job board featured nearly 1,300 remote job openings from Humana. 
6
USAA (United Services Automobile Association)
From telecommuting positions in risk management and quality assurance to analytics and sales, USAA’s financial services offerings for military members and their families create many avenues toward full- and part-time remote jobs. USAA, a Fortune 500 company (94), services the financial planning needs and money endeavors of active and retired military members. During 2020, we added nearly 1,200 USAA remote job openings to our job board.
7
Parallon
A healthcare and business operations provider, Parallon partners with healthcare providers to streamline a variety of business processes to both improve quality of care as well as reduce overhead. As with USAA, more than 1,100 Parallon remote jobs were added to the Virtual Vocations job board in 2020. Parallon remote jobs may be location specific, in that they could require the hired candidate to be based in a specific U.S. city, or they could be jobs open to applicants in any U.S. location. Generally, Parallon staff who work remotely can enjoy some flexible hours and scheduling.
8
PRA Health Sciences
PRA Health Sciences is a global clinical research organization. The company specializes in providing end-to-end drug development and diagnostic services across several therapeutic areas. PRA provides services in more than 90 countries, enabling it to execute clinical trials locally leading to obtaining international regulatory and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for more than 85 products. With more than 16,000 staff members around the world, this telecommute-friendly employer is dedicated to employee growth and development.
PRA Health Services primarily hires clinical research associates, clinical trial managers, medical directors, and clinical data managers. It offers full-time and part-time roles, with some requiring travel and fluency in a second language. We added 1,100 PRA remote job openings to our job board in 2020.
9
VMware, Inc.
VMware, Inc., which posted more than 1,000 remote job openings in 2020, is a cloud infrastructure and visualization solutions provider. This California tech company, and 36th Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work 2020,” focuses on simplifying the IT process as much as possible for the client. VMware, Inc. frequently offers telecommuting job opportunities to professionals experienced in computer engineering, product design, program management, customer success, accounts management, and more.
10
Anthem, Inc.
Anthem, Inc. is a healthcare company offering dental, medical, optical, and life insurance plans. The company also offers group plans and Medicare supplemental insurance. Anthem is #29 on the Fortune 500 and regularly hires remote workers for a variety of positions related to heathcare, sales, insurance, case management, consulting, and more. Throughout 2020, the Virtual Vocations team added more than 800 Anthem remote job openings to our job board.
The companies profiled above are also featured in our Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs in 2021 report. This ranked list of remote-enabled companies highlights the 100 best businesses for remote work. These are the employers from which the Virtual Vocations team sourced the most remote job openings from January 1 through December 31, 2020.
New Employer Partners for 2020
Virtual Vocations Employer Partners submit their virtual and remote job openings directly to the Virtual Vocations job board. Job postings from these employer submissions are published to Employer Alert blog posts and emailed to Virtual Vocations members.
New Employer Partners for 2020 represent businesses and organizations across a variety of job industries. Top Employer Partner industries include consulting, translation, healthcare, education, information technology, and business services. The companies shown here are a sample of the 96 new businesses that joined the Employer Partner Program during 2020.
Businesses and organizations interested in posting remote job openings directly to the Virtual Vocations job board can join the more than 3,500 employers using Virtual Vocations to find top remote talent and become Employer Partner Program members.
2020 Remote Worker Profile
During 2020, Virtual Vocations conducted four surveys of remote workers and remote jobseekers. The surveys aimed to gauge remote work and job search habits, professional preferences and attitudes, and prioritization of wellness as a general part of daily life while living and working during the COVID-19 pandemic. These surveys gathered opinions from a total of more than 4,800 remote workers and remote jobseekers.
Remote Worker Demographics
COVID-19 and Remote Work
The coronavirus outbreak changed the way the world lived and worked in 2020. In our monthly Remote Jobs Reports series, we documented the effects of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy and remote work. Throughout the year, we witnessed scores of on-site employers and employees turn to telecommuting. Remote work was an avenue to keep their businesses and careers operational while also protecting the health and safety of their teams and communities. In fact, “The COVID-19 crisis forced over 95% of U.S. office workers to become regular telecommuters practically overnight,” according to Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics (GWA).
Virtual Vocations remote work and wellness surveys polled remote workers and remote jobseekers about how COVID-19 impacted their lives and careers in 2020.
Our surveys also asked remote workers and remote jobseekers about the role of stress in their lives.
The primary cause of stress among all respondents is not enough social contact with others, which was heightened amid COVID-19. However, respondents also indicated remote work improves stress levels.
In 2020, Virtual Vocations launched a COVID-19 Remote Work Resources Dashboard. This web page helps newly remote employers and employees navigate telework during COVID-19. It is updated regularly with timely information, tips, downloads, and more to help with the surge of information needed as companies and jobseekers turn to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact Information for the 2020 Year-End Report and Remote Jobs Statistics
Inquiries about the 2020 Year-End Report and Remote Jobs Statistics can be made to Michelle Rawlings, Public Relations Specialist. Contact Michelle at michelle (at) virtualvocations (dot) com or via phone at 1-800-379-5092 EXT. 703.
Please visit Virtual Vocations on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest for additional remote work content and conversations.
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