If you want a high-paying work-from-home role, you’re most likely to find it in IT – but there’s a warning opportunities may be dwindling.
Trade Me data released to RNZ shows the top 10 highest-paying roles that offer candidates the ability to work from home.
Top of the list is IT project management, with an average salary of $130,833.
It is followed by projects and contracts management in construction and roading, at $122,917. Third place was taken by civil and structural engineering roles, with a work-from-home average salary of $117,326.
Rounding out the top five were business and systems analysts and IT programmers and developers, both paid more than $100,000 on average when work-from-home was offered.
Trade Me Jobs sales director Matt Tolich says there doesn’t seem to be any negative salary impact from working from home.
But he says there has been a decline in the number of work-from-home jobs offered.
About 45 per cent of businesses are offering flexible working, down from 60 per cent last year, he says.
But he says only 14 per cent of employees cite it as one of their top five priorities when considering a role.
Seek says on its site, the number of job ads indicating the role can be done from home had settled at 8.9 per cent by December, down from 10.3 per cent last September.
Working from home is only a feasible option in some industries.
About a third of insurance and superannuation jobs can be done from home and a quarter of IT and banking and financial services roles.
More than 40 per cent of insurance underwriting roles are listed with the ability to work from home.
Frog Recruitment managing director Shannon Barlow says the market has shifted.
“The desire for it is definitely still there, It’s something that’s rated really highly by employees and jobseekers.”
But she says jobseekers no longer have the power to set their own terms.
“They probably still ask the question but it’s not so much of a deal-breaker now. Job security is more important.”
She says sometimes employers not able to give a salary increase might look at other benefits, such as flexibility, to make the package on offer more appealing.
The top-paying jobs by subcategory, category and average salary:
Project management – IT – $130,833
Project & contracts management – Construction & roading – $122,917
Civil & structural – Engineering – $117,326
Business & systems analysts – IT – $112,857
Programming & development – IT – $109,615
Business development manager – Sales – $98,864
HR – HR & recruitment – $96,429
Water & waste – Engineering – $95,217
Local & regional council – Government & council – $93,500
Accountants – Accounting – $91,341