A New Normal: Remote Work Is More Accessible

Being a part of the Fight Like A Warrior community can mean a lot of things. In our Blog, we love to provide you with stories from our Warriors, their caregivers, tips and tricks on how to make living with a chronic illness easier and much more, but we also love to share information that our community may find helpful while navigating chronic illness life.

In today’s blog post, Career Karma has shared some information regarding remote work, some history behind remote work and some specific ways in which you or someone you know can train for or begin working remotely in the tech industry. While working remotely is not always an option for some, as a chronic illness Warrior myself, I am always welcome new potential opportunities, especially ones I may not already know about.

Remote: The Future of Data Science Jobs

Remote work has been around at least since the year 2000. However, some companies have embraced the remote-work movement more than others. The tech industry, specifically, has led the way in this regard, while much of corporate America, as well as companies around the world, have been slow to embrace this growing work trend.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed all that, and these changes are here to stay. As offices were ordered to close their doors, companies scrambled to assemble the puzzle of remote teams. Despite the common sentiment of missing those water cooler conversations with coworkers, many new remote employees are also reporting that they very much enjoy working from home, as they can spend more time with their families and reduce costs on things like gas, car maintenance and childcare.

This lower overhead cost was a major factor driving the tech industry’s embracement of the remote-work movement. Tech companies based in Silicon Valley and New York City have historically paid salaries that are as high as 30 percent above the national average. This was the result of the extreme cost of living in these cities, which are the most expensive cities in the entire United States. Therefore, tech companies based in these areas have had to pay much higher salaries if they wanted to attract local talent.

However, thanks to the growing popularity of tech education away from these long-held tech centers, there are growing hotbeds of tech talent that tech companies based in Silicon Valley and New York have been able to recruit top talent from at much lower cost. Coding bootcamps in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle are turning these cities into hotbeds for both young people looking for their first job as well as seasoned professionals looking for a career change.

Coding Bootcamps

If you are unfamiliar with coding bootcamps, think of them as a short-term trade school for computer programming. But, since computer programming is done, well, on computers, this trade school-like program can be done online. While some coding bootcamps are offered through in-person classrooms, many of them are offered through self-paced, online options. Most bootcamp grads learn their new programming skills and graduate from their program in less than a year, with the typical grad finishing their bootcamp in 10 to 24 weeks.

Coding bootcamps also offer flexible tuition payment plans such as income-sharing agreements. These signed agreements allow coding bootcamp students to learn the programming skills they need to succeed in their new career without having to make an upfront tuition payment. Instead, they agree to pay back their tuition later, after they have completed their program and have landed their first job in the industry.

Data Science

Data science is one of the fastest-growing remote-based fields in the tech industry, with an expected job growth rate of 16 percent by the year 2028, according to ZipRecruiter.

These data engineering professionals are responsible for designing and building the systems and processes that collect the data that companies use to make more informed decisions. Data is collected on things like inventory, sales and employee productivity. This data is collected by Data Engineers and then analyzed by Data Analysts, which is a more junior Data Scientist position.

Once the data is collected, organized and analyzed, directors of departments like purchasing, sales, and human resources can make more informed decisions on what to buy and when.

We appreciate the information that Career Karma has provided in this post for our Fight Like A Warrior community. While working in any field with a chronic illness or as a caregiver to someone with a chronic illness can be difficult and bring its own set of needs, being aware of additional options can help. While Career Karma works specifically within the tech businesses, this may be of interest to a Warrior as a work-from-home opportunity. Also, as mentioned in the above article, online learning and training for this field is widely available and can provide new knowledge or spark a new passion for anyone.

If you have any questions, let us know and we can help put you in touch with someone at Career Karma. If you have any other tips regarding remote work, let us know and we can share it with our community!