At These 125 Companies, All Or Most Employees Work Remotely

With advances in cloud services and videoconferencing technologies, it's becoming more and more common for companies to be virtual, meaning the majority or entirety of their team telecommutes 100% of the time.

FlexJobs, a site for those seeking telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, and freelance jobs, releases its third-annual list of companies that operate mostly or completely remotely.

According to FlexJobs, half of American employees hold a job that is compatible with telework.

The company, which itself is virtual, researched hundreds of companies over the last year to identify the 125 that fit the bill, with top industries for virtual companies including computer/IT, HR/recruiting, and education. Other industries that are also friendly to telecommuting include accounting, health, law, marketing, nonprofit, news/media, sports, travel, and others.

The list has grown from 26 virtual companies in 2014 to 76 virtual companies in 2015 to 125 in 2016, reflecting a growing trend. In 2015, the site saw a 36% increase in remote jobs posted. In 2014, telecommuting grew 6.5%, the largest year-over-year increase since before the recession.

The company estimates that telecommuting in the United States has grown 103% over the last decade and projects that 50% of people will work remotely by 2020. 

“Being able to choose where and when we work empowers us to be more productive, more engaged, and more balanced in every aspect of our lives,” said Adam Schwartz, founder and CEO of Articulate, one of the companies on the list. “After 14 years as a fully remote company, we’re convinced a distributed environment isn’t just good for our employees. It’s also one of the key reasons we’ve been so successful as a company.”

More than two-thirds of employers report increased productivity among their telecommuters. 

“The bottom line is that a virtual company can be just as viable, professional, and successful as a traditional on-site company, and even more so,” said Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “In FlexJobs’ own virtual environment, we have built new and useful processes, learned how to collaborate creatively with each other, and grown a healthy, vibrant company culture, not in spite of our lack of headquarters, but largely because of it.”