As Canadians hunker down amid the COVID-19 crisis, job seekers are increasingly looking for remote work. The share of Canadian job searches on Indeed including terms like “remote”, “work from home”, “télétravail”, and related phrases, has more than doubled over the past two weeks.
Remote work-related job searches were fairly stable in February, accounting for about 0.6% of all Canadian searches throughout the month. However search patterns changed quickly as COVID-19 cases, and an emphasis on social distancing grew. As of March 22nd, close to 1.6% of all Canadian job searches included terms relating to remote-work, up 164% compared to their share in late last month.
Job seekers looking to work from home tend to click postings where interaction over the phone or video-conference is fairly straightforward. Compared to the average job seeker, positions in customer service, telemarketing, and as assistants all receive particularly strong interest from remote-searchers. Social media manager, tutor, and full stack developer jobs are also clicked on at relatively high rates.
As job seekers, workers and workplaces grapple with the implications of social distancing, interest in remote work will likely keep rising. Growth in remote work might have been a long-term trend, but this immediate shift is going to be a tough transition for some, especially those with kids home from school. However, workers with roles that can’t be done from home are in the toughest situation, facing risks to both their job security and own health. The increase in interest in remote work shows some job seekers looking to make the best of a bad situation.
