Virtual skills are growing ever more important
By Richard Feloni
It's natural to think that all work-from-home jobs would pay significantly less than their office counterparts, but a new joint study from online job resources FlexJobs and PayScale shows that it's a common misconception.
While the majority of American workers still go in to the office every day, telecommuting is on the rise. The number of people who work from home at least one day per week rose from 9.5 million in 1999 to 13.4 million in 2010, according to the U.S. Census. What's more, Global Analytics reports that over 75% of employees who work from home earn more than $65,000 per year.
> Find a work-from-home job
From FlexJobs' database of work-from-home job listings, PayScale examined the average salaries the positions command at small and midsize businesses (those with fewer than 1,000 employees). These are the executive-level at-home jobs that pay the most:
1. Medical Director: $219,100
> Find a job as a medical director
2. Chief Executive Officer: $199,300
> Find a job as a chief executive officer
3. Vice President of Marketing: $164,200
> Find a job as a vice president of marketing
4. Chief Operations Officer: $152,800
> Find a job as a chief operations officer
5. Regional Vice President: $149,500
> Find a job as a regional vice president
6. Chief Financial Officer: $139,200
> Find a job as a chief financial officer
7. Government Affairs Director: $112,300
> Find a job as a government affairs director
8. Director of Business Operations: $109,100
> Find a job as a director of business operations
9. Senior Business Analyst: $92,000
> Find a job as a senior business analyst
10. Director of Education: $68,300
> Find a job as a director of education
"The increased importance of email, video conferencing, and other forms of virtual communication means that once a worker has gained the experience and skill levels required for the jobs on this list, their location often becomes less important," said Katie Bardaro, director of analytics for PayScale, in the report.