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A new personal finance tool called Flex Index is helping jobseekers find remote and hybrid work arrangements. Read on to find out how the tool can help you.
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Finding true remote work — a job that lets you work from home five out of five days per week — is finally getting easier.
Early this year, Scoop, a tech company that offers scheduling products for hybrid workforces, launched a powerful search tool that can help you find remote work fast.
Called “Flex Index,” this personal finance tool catalogs companies by their work arrangements. Fully remote companies are called out as such, while companies with minimum office days are cataloged with specific details.
For jobseekers on the search for fully remote work, the Flex Index can help you avoid awkward job interviews in which you’re told there’s no remote work, even though you stated work from home was important to you on your application. It can also put to rest those horribly vague answers — “we offer some remote work ” — that leave you wondering if the job is even worth pursuing.
How does Flex Index work?
To be sure, the Flex Index isn’t a job board: It doesn’t tell you who’s hiring right now, nor does it list open positions (not yet, at least).
Instead, the Index tells you a company’s work-from-home policy, which it will label as one of these six categories:
Fully remote: No office work. Employee’s choice: You get to choose when you work in the office. Minimum Days/Weeks: You must report in office a minimum number of days, but you get to choose when.Specific Days/Weeks: You must report in office on specific days, such as every Tuesday and Thursday. Minimum % of the time: You have to be in office for a percentage of the week, month, or year, but you get to choose when. Full time in office: No remote work (boooo).
As of April 2023, the Index can give you information on 4,158 companies, such as Airbnb, 24 Hour Fitness, Internal Revenue Service, Tesla, and MLB. You can also filter companies by industry, size, and location of headquarters.
How can you use Flex Index to find a job?
Since the Flex Index doesn’t tell you which companies are hiring, you have to get creative.
One approach is to use the Index to narrow down companies whose jobs you later apply to. This works well if you want to work within a clearly defined industry, such as hospitality, health, or real estate. It might also work well if you want to find employers who offer remote work in your city or state.
Narrowing down by industry, however, doesn’t work if you’re looking for a specific job. For instance, you can’t filter employers on Flex Index by those that hire writers, designers, lawyers, QA engineers, and developers. Instead, you’ll have to use Flex Index in reverse, that is, look for companies hiring for your role, then check Flex Index to find out what their work-from-home policy is (if the company is registered).
Is Flex Index accurate?
The Index compiles data from online surveys filled out by former and current employees, so it’s only as accurate as the employees report. Once the Index lists a company’s work-from-home policy, however, it reaches out to the company’s executives. The executives then have an opportunity to edit the information, or add any clarifications.
Will Flex Index add more companies in the future?
Yes, it’s likely the index will add more companies as the tool becomes more well-known.
In fact, if you’re working for a company that Flex Index hasn’t yet registered, you can request to add its work-from-home policy. You can also check companies that are registered (and for whom you currently work for) to see if its data is accurate.
Flex Index: flexible work is here to stay
If you’re afraid remote work was a pandemic trend, the parent company of Flex Index — Scoop — has good news for you: Based on recent data, it appears around 82% of companies founded post-2000 will offer flexible work arrangements in the future, with around 53% founded before 2000 embracing full flexibility.
So no — you don’t have to settle for an office job because you think it’s mandatory for a decent wage. Remote and flexible work arrangements can improve your health and well-being as much as they can your personal finances, and you don’t have to take a pay cut to work remotely. Keep tabs on the Flex Index companies that are hiring remotely, and when new jobs open, don’t hesitate to jump ship for a position that works better for you.
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