Of the top 15 highest growth flexible career categories analyzed by Flexjobs in March, only two were from the world of tech—systems administrator and database administrator. March 2020 presented a dramatic downturn for jobs in general. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the beginning of the month was strong for both jobs and job seekers, but by the end of March, it was apparent that the job market was struggling. Millions of people lost their jobs because of COVID-19, but Flexjobs’ analysis throughout the month shows selective industry growth with more open jobs in specific fields of work.

“In the overall job market, many employers are freezing hiring, both publicly and more quietly, and FlexJobs is seeing that with remote and flexible job listings, too,” said Kathy Gardner, senior director of PR & media at FlexJobs. “We are seeing a bit of a drop but it’s not a dramatic one.”  

SEE: Coronavirus: Critical IT policies and tools every business needs (TechRepublic)

Systems administration

Only two technology-focused careers made the list of the top 15 for March 2020, starting with systems administration, which came in at No. 9, and up 23% for the month. Companies hiring for systems administration jobs include Salesforce, Applied Information Science  and Canonical. The recent job postings for systems administrator include:

The uptick in systems administration (those responsible for maintenance and troubleshooting of networked and cloud-based systems used by both large and small companies) is not surprising, given that nearly all but essential employees throughout the job market turned to telecommuting and remote work, a greater burden on systems admins who had to ensure each remote worker have a tech system that worked well within their job, and also protected the companies’ cybersecurity. 

Database administration

The second technology career on the list was database administration in 12th place with a 22% increase. 

Database administration comprises jobs in career fields including database management, warehousing, architecture, and administration. 

Database admin professionals have extensive knowledge of SQL and specific database servers from Oracle, Postgres, Mysql, or NoSql, and must maintain up-to-date DBA certifications. Companies hiring for database administration jobs include SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation), MariaDB, and Fastly. The recent job postings for systems administrator include:

• Senior marketing data scientist, enterprise

• Remote infrastructure engineer, lead administrator

• Database administrator

The updated monthly list of increase in available flexible career categories for March, in order from highest percent are: 

1. Therapy, 84%

2. Mortgage and real estate, 55%

3. Banking, 52%

4. Bookkeeping, 47%

5. Nursing, 40%

6. Auditing, 37%

7. Insurance claims, 33%

8. Medical case management, 32%

9. Systems administration, 23%

10. Translation, 23%

11. K-12 education, 22%

12. Database administration, 22%

13. Inbound calls (those who vet calls, a type of customer service career), 18%

14. Online teaching, 17%

15. Pharmaceutical, 13%

Flexjobs’ findings include an “updated regularly” list of companies hiring remote work-from-home jobs, a welcome boon to employees through the US who were furloughed or laid off because of the pandemic.

“While we’re still in the middle of this and it’s hard to predict how this will play out, one of the historical points we can look at is the last recession,” Gardner said. “During that time, remote job listings actually continued to increase each year even as in-office jobs were dropping. We can’t predict what will happen during this rapidly changing environment, but that is something to keep in mind.”

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