More and more, the UK workforce is becoming remote first. According to Small Business Mag, 4.2m work remotely in tech today, which represents almost 10% of the entire British population. For a graduate in a tech field, it may transpire that working from home is the start, not the end, of your career path.
There are numerous benefits to conducting your career completely through the internet. That being said, it requires a certain set of skills. For the graduate, staying abreast of industry trends, learning how to be a self-starter and having self discipline are key.
The Benefits of Web Working
There are immediate benefits to working from home. First off, you save money - TotalJobs estimates that the average British person will spend £146/month on commuting costs. That, and the money saved from a disinclination to visit sandwich and takeout shops, will help you to save money towards big purchases and paying off the likes of student loans, or, conversely, provide the cash to make continued learning realistic. Home working employees are generally happier, too. The employer will benefit from improved productivity - the Telegraph estimates that home workers rank their productivity at 7.7/10, as opposed to 6.5 for office workers.
Looking to ecommerce
Typically, the image given of at-home workers are of techy types. While that isn’t entirely inaccurate, there are plentiful roles across the spectrum. For a graduate with a nous for business, ecommerce is a great option and with Indeed reporting an average salary of £47,500, great progress can be made from home. Furthermore, with the rise of services like Amazon Merch, there is no need for premises or involvement except via your time and online presence. A business owner or sales representative within an ecommerce company can expect to need good data analysis skills to seize on new trends.
The Lure of Web Development
Skilled workers are in short supply in the UK, and a Guardian article from June noted that the raising of T2 visa caps will not do enough for the tech industry. Full stack developers are in hot demand and can expect to make over £50,000 a year out of the door. They can work entirely online given the basis of web and app development. Work/life balance is sometimes affected, especially for big businesses where changes are required on the fly; requiring a graduate to be self-starting and capable of performing independent research, given the fast-moving nature of tech.
Working from home is the next big thing and British people by their millions are taking to it. Saving money, improving productivity and earning a good salary are part of this. For graduates, tuning your skills to cater for an online career is key to finding your niche.
