Want a Flexible Schedule? These 5 Job Types Might Be Your Best Bet

There are a lot of reasons to want a job that looks very different from the traditional, 9-to-5, 40-hour-week, office gig. Maybe you’re trying to combine raising a family with continuing your career. Maybe you’re an entrepreneur, and need the extra hours to build your empire. Or, maybe you just want more time to yourself, to read good books or learn how to rock climb or just stare at the wall. (Hey, if you spin it the right way, you can claim to be meditating.)

Whatever your reason, you’re in luck: flexible work arrangements appear to be on the rise. By some estimates, as much as 50 percent of the workforce will be freelancing in some capacity by 2020. And that’s not counting other types of flexible workers—those who work full-time for an employer, but from their home office, or those who work part-time either at home or on-site, or those who work on a different schedule than most professionals.

That said, not every white-collar job lends itself equally to a work-from-home, part-time, or other flexible arrangement. Some job categories have more of these non-traditionally structured gigs than others—and some are adding these jobs at a faster rate.

Recently, FlexJobs combed their database of over 100,000 job listings to determine which categories were growing the fastest for flexible opportunities:

1. Government and Politics

Surprised to see the relatively staid government sector on this list? Don’t be. Desk jobs like these are the easiest to do from the comfort of your own home. In fact, FlexJobs reports that one in three government workers works from home now and then. Currently, the site shows listings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Transportation, among others.

2. Engineering

Engineers of all kinds (civil, mechanical, environmental, and more) can find flexible jobs at employers like Dell and Deloitte. The types of flexible jobs vary considerably as well, from freelance to part-time to telecommuting roles.

3. Project Management

Xerox, Oracle, and UnitedHealth Group are among the employers in FlexJobs’ database looking to hire project managers for freelance, temporary, and telecommuting jobs.

4. Communications

If you’re a communications coordinator, marketing executive, or public relations manager, companies like Yelp and IBM are looking for you—and they’re willing to let you work part-time, freelance, or as a full-time telecommuter, depending on the employer and the role.

5. Travel and Hospitality

Account managers and travel support case managers can find freelance, telecommuting, and alternative schedule gigs at employers like Hilton Worldwide and BCD Travels.

For more detail and to see current job listings, take a look at FlexJob’s post.

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If you could have any work schedule you wanted, what would it be—part-time, work-from-home, alternate schedule? Tell us on Twitter or leave a comment.