Swansea Sees UK’s Highest Increase In Demand For Remote Jobs Since 2018

The beginning of the year is peak time for both hiring and job hunting – Preply’s latest study analyses UK search volumes and job listings identifying remote work trends.

A new study has revealed that Swansea has seen the highest increase in demand for ‘remote jobs’ in all of the UK (2018-2021), with web searches for the term up by 1,575% over the last 3 years.

It was recently revealed that when asked if they would prefer to return to the office, an overwhelming one third of Brits, said they would rather keep working remotely. The average employee is constantly challenged with balancing work with their personal life, so it makes total sense that the flexibility remote working can provide is not something people want to let go of.

Pursuing a career in a sector that adapts to your life by progressively adopting flexi-work structures such as remote work, 4-day working weeks and hybrid roles is becoming an increasingly popular notion.

Conducted by e-learning platform Preply, the study analyses January 2022 job listings (see methodology for further detail), ranking each job sector by the percentage of roles that offer the option for remote working. Other relevant factors the analysis also highlights are the ‘percentage of remote jobs that are part time’, ‘average salary’ and the UK cities seeing the highest increase in demand (searches) from those specifically looking for remote work.

Ranking as top in the UK, Swansea also tops the list for Wales too. Searches for remote work in the southern Welsh city are 1,125% higher than the second ranking Welsh city of Wrexham, which has seen a 450% increase in the last 3 years. Meanwhile, capital of Wales, Cardiff ranks in 3rd with an increase in demand of 165%, followed by Newport searches, up by 111%.

The UK’s second highest increase in demand is seen in the city of Leicester, with a 1,239% hike in ‘remote jobs’ searches, meaning those in Leicester not only placed second in the UK but are also England’s topmost avid, seeking out remote roles. Birmingham has seen the UK’s third highest increase (up 971%), followed by Northampton (up 783%) and Leeds (up 766%) respectively.

With remote job roles making up for almost a quarter of total jobs listed (23%), ranking top is ‘IT & Telecoms’. The predominantly virtual sector also ranks in second place for having the most number of jobs on offer, indicating the industry is undersaturated and therefore less challenging to secure a job.

The second most progressive sector is the ‘Media, Digital & Creative’ sector, for which the study found ⅕ of all job roles listed that are remote (18%). If you’re also keen on securing a remote job that doesn’t compromise on salary, the average salary for ‘Media, Digital & Creative’ roles (£34,913.33) is the 7th highest among all other sectors. Close behind in third, with 16% of roles listed being remote roles is the ‘Charity’ sector.

Understandably, some jobs just can’t be done remotely and the sectors found ranking bottom will find themselves there because they are predominantly ‘manual’ or ‘face-to-face’. This is definitely the case for the lowest ranking sectors Hospitality, Manufacturing and Motoring – in each of which fewer than 1% of jobs listed are remote roles.

There is a silver lining for those who are keen on working in ‘Hospitality’, as it’s revealed to offer the highest percentage of part-time remote roles – over half of remote roles (57%) listed being part-time.

Although it is met with skepticism by some, the adaptation to remote work structures not only benefits employees but it also enables companies to take their pick from the most talented individuals from all around the world. Equally, for prospective students or those considering an industry change, guidance on which sectors to venture into is increasingly valued. Deciding on the sector in which one sees themselves having a great career, will enable them to pinpoint the skills they can pick-up that will make them indispensable.

With credit to https://preply.com/en/blog/most-remote-job-sectors/ for sharing this study.