Remote work from home is becoming more common these days, but it’s not exactly a new phase. For example, in the 1980s IBM started placing “remote terminals” in the homes of some of its employees. By 2009, 40 percent of the company’s employees no longer needed to turn up at an office each day.
With the availability of remote working jobs set to increase, you may be interested in doing it yourself. But what does working remotely mean? And what’s the difference between working from home and working from an office?
Here’s a simple explanation of the “work remotely” lifestyle. We’ll also give you a list of the best remote companies to work for, and explain why they’re great.
What Does “Working Remotely” Mean?
Remote work—also known as “telecommuting”—means that you work independently, away from a shared, central office space with other employees.
The difference between remote work from home jobs and working in an office is self-explanatory: you’re by yourself, connected to a larger workforce by the web.
Usually, this independent work happens from your home or a home office. Sometimes you might be working from a remote company location, too. By and large, there is little commuting involved.
However, while the “no commute” aspect is definitely a benefit, most remote working jobs can get a bit isolating. It’s really important that you remain self-directed, self-motivated, and follow a schedule.
If you can master these three skills, you can stay on track and get your tasks done.
Remote Work From Home Is the Future
In 2017, a panel discussion by IBM mirrored the findings of a 2014 whitepaper from the company’s Smarter Workplace Institute:
“The remote workers in this research were highly engaged, more likely to consider their workplaces as innovative, happier about their job prospects and less stressed than their more traditional, office-bound colleagues.”
Other research agrees with this study, showing that remote workers log more hours and do better work.
According to findings by Gallup, 43 percent of the American workforce already spends some of its time working remotely as of 2016. The research states that “remote work not only improves outcomes and employee branding but is a policy that the most talented employees desire.”
With that trend in mind, the number of remote workers is slated to rise. Thankfully, there’s a huge, growing number of respectable employers happy to take them on.
Here’s a list of the best remote companies to work for.
These Companies Hire Remote Workers
1. Adobe
Adobe is a world-class company specializing in the creative fields, and it hires a huge amount of top talent. Although not all of the company’s positions are remote, there is a good number to choose from. Many of these remote positions can be found on FlexJobs.
2. Apple
If you’re after complete flexibility or want to be a “digital nomad,” Apple isn’t the company for you. However, Apple does offer a work environment that gives you more control over your schedule. Again, available remote Apple positions can be found on FlexJobs.
3. Automattic
This is the company behind WordPress, WooCommerce, Longreads and more. Automattic’s mission is to “make the web a better place.” It does this through an entirely distributed, massively talented team spread across 50 countries. On top of that, the employees get together once per year for a seven-day retreat to help them bond.
4. Amazon
Needing no introduction, Amazon has a range of remote work opportunities. A lot of these are in the customer service and sales departments, but more technical jobs do pop up occasionally.
5. American Express
American Express claims to “value work-life balance,” and therefore offers a decent selection of telecommuting jobs. As one of the top companies for remote work, this is definitely one to check out. Look out for American Express job openings on FlexJobs.
6. Basecamp
Headquartered in Chicago but dispersed across multiple cities around the world, Basecamp is known for its incredibly fun, close-knit team. You’ll be working on a fast-growing project management platform: one that many users fall in love with as soon as they use it.
If Basecamp doesn’t have any job openings currently available, you can always subscribe to the company’s job postings newsletter.
7. Buffer
One of the most transparent companies on the net, Buffer is a pioneer in remote work. Managing an entirely distributed team, the company has built up a loyal following of social media managers who want an easier way to schedule their posts.
8. CleverTech
CleverTech is apparently made up of a team who “bring a unique global perspective to each and every engagement.” There’s almost always a range of technical roles available, where you’ll be creating technology solutions for big clients around the globe.
9. Dell
As another huge company offering a good choice of remote work positions, Dell gives plenty of flextime in a number of departments. These positions range from developers to data scientists. A mirror of this detailed list can be found on FlexJobs.
10. Doist
The team behind the to-do list app (ToDoist), Doist is almost entirely remote, with everyone able to “work from anywhere on your own schedule.” While they don’t have many positions available at this moment, you can check back frequently to see when it’s updated.
11. DuckDuckGo
One of Google’s search competitors, DuckDuckGo is aiming to “raise the standard of trust online.” The company recognizes that people work best in different environments, and therefore trust its team to work remotely, from wherever they like.
12. Envato
Although Envato is based in Melbourne, it employs remote workers. If you’re lucky enough to be one of them, you’ll receive a subsidy to fly out to visit the HQ for a couple of weeks.
13. Formstack
The Formstack team claims to “know how to work hard and play hard from wherever we feel most productive.” This company hosts a relatively small but close-knit team, working on improving an ever-popular, impressive online form builder.
14. GitLab
GitLab is a trusted, fast-growing standard for source code version management. This is a remote-only company with a wide range of technical roles available. Want to know how its remote team works? Check out the GitLab remote manifesto.
15. GitHub
GitHub has its HQ in San Francisco. Although it’s headquartered there, a large portion of its workers are remote or allow for flexible home working.
16. Hubstaff
Another remote team, Hubstaff is a trusted time-tracking platform with a huge number of users. Whether you’re a marketer or a developer, keep your eye on the Hubstaff careers page.
17. Motorola
Motorola is a longtime player in communication solutions. Not surprisingly, a company of this size isn’t completely remote, but they do have remote positions available. The easiest way to find these positions is on Indeed or FlexJobs.
18. NodeSource
If you’re interested in the Node.js ecosystem, you’ll be pleased to hear that NodeSource is an entirely distributed team. Hoping to work with “the best in the industry,” the company is happy to let you work from wherever you like, on your own schedule.
As with the other companies on this list, if you don’t see a position that’s suited to your needs right now, you can always check back at a later date.
19. Toggl
Toggl, the small company behind the popular time-tracking app of the same name, “believes great people will make awesome stuff anywhere.” Although they don’t have a ton of positions open at any one time, the positions are remote.
20. Trello
Trello, one of the web’s most beloved productivity tools, may be headquartered in New York, but its team is distributed across the world. There is almost always a selection of interesting openings in all areas of the business.
For more information on Trello and what it does, check out our guide to Trello for life and project management.
21. Wikimedia
Want a career that’s more mission-driven? Wikimedia is a non-profit organization, “dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.”
Many of the vacancies at Wikimedia allow for telecommuting and flexible working, so you’ll have plenty of control over your schedule.
22. X-Team
Are you a talented developer? X-Team is always looking to take on remote developers to work with some of the world’s largest brands and fastest-growing startups.
23. Zapier
Zapier is a company that allows anyone to connect their favorite apps to help automate time-wasting workflows. Its team is completely distributed and includes everything from writers and developers, to engineers and data scientists.
24. Xerox
With thousands of work-from-home employees already, Xerox is no stranger to remote work. Although a lot of the roles revolve around customer care, there are some more technical roles, too, such as software developers and programmers.
Remote Work Job Sites
While we have highlighted a handful of excellent companies that are open to remote work, there are thousands of additional employers who are happy to hire remote workers, too. There are also job boards that host positions.
If you’d rather search all these employers en masse instead of visiting individual company sites, we’ve listed some of the best remote work job sites below.
1. FlexJobs
At over 10 years old, FlexJobs is one of the leaders in remote work opportunities. With over fifty job categories from thousands of employers, the opportunities are endless. As you can see from the links we’ve included above, many large companies list remote positions on FlexJobs to make it easier for people to find.
2. Stack Overflow
If you’re a developer looking for remote work, there’s no better place to find a massive range of options than Stack Overflow.
3. Indeed
Indeed is one of the best job hunting boards out there. The remote section on Indeed.com currently has over 70,000 available positions. With quick access to employer ratings, it’s easy to find a company you’d love to work for.
4. Remote.co
Packed with telecommuting and flexible work opportunities, there is a huge number of available positions in almost every industry imaginable.
5. We Work Remotely
This is a simple site with basic search functions, but it works well. There are plenty of vacancies here with relatively small companies doing exciting projects.
Create Your Office at Home
While some jobs need to be done in person, there’s no reason for employers to be saying “no” to remote desk jobs most of the time. Thousands of successful companies manage to operate at the top of their game despite being spread across the planet.
If the freedom of remote work is important to you, then check out the sites listed above. For additional information, here are some remote work resources to work from home productively.
Read the full article: 24 of the Best Companies That Offer Remote Working Jobs
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