A new global trend – teachers and psychologists are increasingly being hired remotely

Despite the fact that, both in Latvia and globally, software engineers were the most sought after profession for remote work last year, employers are increasingly interested in opportunities to remotely hire professionals in other professions including accountants, psychologists, teachers and lawyers, according to the regular half-yearly report from the international personnel management platform Deel. There has been a marked increase in demand for teachers in particular. For example, in Europe and Latin American countries, teaching is one of the remote work professions in which job remuneration is rising the most.

According to Liina Laas, Deel's Head of Expansion for Central and Eastern Europe, demand for accountants and lawyers is primarily linked to an increasingly powerful remote work traditions. As lots of businesses are expanding their operations in international markets, knowledge of local legislation and the tax system in each country are becoming increasingly relevant for them. Therefore, they require experts with the relevant knowledge.

 “A trend that is even more noteworthy is the rising interest in hiring of psychologists and teachers for remote work. On the one hand, this could be linked to the desire of businesses to provide their employees with support in the quest for well-being and practicable knowledge. However, on the other hand, this trend could also be put down to the fact that increasingly even the best universities around the globe are offering online courses and even complete degrees remotely, and are therefore willing to recruit the best educators from all over the world. In any case, one thing is clear - whereas, until now, in the context of remote work, we were primarily talking more about various IT, sales and marketing specialists who can do their work anywhere in the world, where there is an internet connection, these professions are now being joined by new categories, ” explains Liina Laas.

According to the data collated in Deel's half-yearly report, changing circumstances are affecting the situation in the market. In professions such as programming, product design or sales, last year the salary level of specialists fell by between 10% and as much as 30%, which could be attributable to the large supply available in the market. Last year, many global giants laid off a range of employees, and therefore it is now quite easy for companies all over the globe to hire the best specialists. However, right now some professional groups including content creators can receive up to 50% higher remuneration than a year ago. The fact that specialists who satisfy our requirements and expectations are not always available in the local market is also confirmed by the fact that, for example, in Mexico and Australia teaching staff are currently in the greatest demand, while the biggest number of remote work employees in these countries are being found in the United States and the Philippines respectively.

 “In Latvia, in recent years there has been a continual decline in the number of teachers in general education schools - dropping from 22,053 teachers in 2018 to 21,204 teachers in 2021.* In the European Commission Education and Training Monitor 2020** it was already mentioned that schools and municipalities are seeking to fill vacancies by encouraging retired teachers to continue working, asking teachers to teach various subjects in addition to those they previously taught, and offering block learning of subjects, along with bonuses for teachers who agree to relocate from another region. It could well be that remote work is part of the solution - if only for teaching English and other foreign languages,” suggests Liina Laas.

In Latvia, 28 businesses hired almost 300 foreign specialists through Deel. Last year, the biggest number of remote employment contracts were concluded with specialists from Egypt. Meanwhile, 153 specialists from Latvia are employed by companies in other countries on the basis of remote employment contracts, most often in fields such as computer software (almost one in five), information technology and service, financial services, computer games, e-learning, telecommunications, and online media, etc. Overall, 59% of employees, including both foreign specialists in Latvian companies and Latvian specialists in other countries, are 25 to 34 years old.

* https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/lv/OSP_OD/OSP_OD__sociala__izgl__vispskolas/IZG190.px/

** https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor-2020/countries/latvia_lv.html