More than a tenth of jobs were advertised as “entirely remote” during January, up by a fifth since December, according to new analysis.
Accounting and advisory firm Hazlewoods looked at 1.4 million job advertisements posted over the past two years. Remote-only roles hit a high of 13% of jobs advertised in November 2021, and were at 11% during January 2022.
The company’s research found that 74% of remote-only roles paid more than the average UK salary of £31,000, suggesting a shift away from home workers carrying out lower-paid roles in customer service or administration.
Felicity Sang, a director at Hazlewoods, said the surge in Covid cases brought about by the Omicron variant had forced some businesses to reconsider their working model.
“Employers have learned to adapt quickly to external pressures. There is no set way of working for many businesses as they adapt to the changes,” she said.
The top sector for remote working is technology, with 31% of employees working from home. Employees in healthcare and transportation work from home the least.
The government ended its work from home guidance for England in mid January and the prime minister is due to set out future plans to “learn to live with Covid” later today (21 February).
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This is likely to see the end of free mass testing and could mean the requirement to self-isolate for those who test positive will be removed.
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