The most in-demand remote jobs that companies are hiring for are not, as you might expect, in tech. Accountant is currently the hottest work-from-home job on the market.
Thanks to increasing demand for these skilled professionals across multiple industries, including finance, healthcare and government, accountants took the top spot in FlexJobs' annual ranking of the best remote jobs in the US.
A shortage of accountants in the U.S. — caused by the retirement of baby boomers and a sharp decline in the number of students enrolling in accounting programs — has led to companies offering more remote or hybrid accounting positions to fill the gap.
“It is an industry under enormous pressure to attract new generations of talent to modernize and redefine roles to improve work-life balance, and remote working is the best way to reassure people “It's about giving them a certain amount of flexibility. “Autonomy and flexibility,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, tells CNBC Make It.
Demand for accountants has reached beyond the financial and consulting sectors in recent years, in part due to rapidly evolving tax regulations and financial reporting standards. At ZipRecruiter, the share of open accounting positions that were held remotely increased from about 8% in 2019 to nearly 20% in 2023, according to data shared with CNBC Make It.
Overall, the number of jobs for accountants is expected to grow by at least 4% over the next decade, with more than 15,000 new jobs added each year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
“Compliance and therefore good accountants are more important than ever today, as industry regulation affects almost all areas of business and companies are therefore exposed to greater financial and reputational risks,” explains Pollak. “There are a lot of oversights…You can't afford to have the legal liability for screwing this up.”
Many of an accountant's core tasks — managing financial records, analyzing data, preparing tax returns — can easily be done remotely, says Toni Frana, senior career expert at FlexJobs.
Accounting has “long been considered one of the strongest areas for a remote career,” Frana says, adding that she expects to see a surge in remote accountant job openings soon ahead of tax season.
On FlexJobs, some of the top companies hiring for remote accounting positions include Kforce, Supporting Strategies, and Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH).
According to the BLS, most jobs require a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field, as well as certification in a specific area of accounting, such as becoming a certified public accountant.
While the average median salary for accountants in the United States is about $68,000, according to ZipRecruiter, more experienced accountants can earn between $150,000 and more than $200,000 per year.
Although Bloomberg reports that the big four accounting firms – KPMG, PWC, EY and Deloitte – are collectively cutting thousands of jobs in 2023, such layoffs are rare, Pollak says.
“As an accountant, you are a highly valued employee, so the risk of being fired is fairly low,” she notes. “You're a trusted member of the inner circle, you see all the mess and you help the company out – it's a very important, stable job.”
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