Remote job searches soared 966% in April: Report

As a majority of Indians are working from home, searches for 'remote work skyrocketed to 966% in April 2021, from the same period last year, according to data from job site Indeed.

The data revealed that searches for remote work were higher across age groups -- 60-64, 15-19 and 40-44 at 13% each, while the searches in the age groups 35-39 and 20-24 were 12% each.

The data showed that Bengaluru topped chart for remote job searches with 16%, Delhi (11%), Mumbai (8%), Hyderabad (6%) and Pune (7%). This burgeoning demand for remote jobs is backed by the fact that geographical boundaries are blurring while employers hire and the job seekers scout for opportunities.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has fast tracked the adoption of technology across functions in India and has set in motion the largest work from home experiment of our generation. Our data has reflected the same showing a consistent rise in searches for remote jobs," said Sashi Kumar, MD, Indeed India.

The pandemic has defined the significance of skills as the top priority for hiring as opposed to location of the job seeker, the data showed. It is expected that employers would increase workfrom-home options, embracing hybrid work as the future of work.

With the increasing need for technical integration across functions and sectors, job roles that require technical expertise to ensure seamless working have been the most in demand. The data also revealed that technical support specialist (25%) emerged as one of the most searched remote jobs followed by data entry clerk (22%), IT recruiter (16%), content writer (16%) and back end developer (15%).

"As businesses transitioned digitally, it has become a norm for employees and companies to work from anywhere and this change enabled by technology will see more and more companies turning to hybrid work in the future. We believe that going forward, recruiters will focus on role and skills based hiring, thus blurring geographical boundaries," Kumar said.