Still looking to WFH? You'll be lucky as roles dry up

Marketing professionals looking for a roles that will enable them to work fully remotely could be in for a long search, with a new analysis showing that only 5.3% of new jobs in the sector offer full-on WFH, despite thousands of Brits searching for such roles.

By examining flexibility within new job roles for UK employees in 2025, the ‘Remote-friendly Industries Study’ by sharetech platform Vestd has discovered that remote work is unevenly available across industries, and that employers risk losing talent if they ignore what their workers want.

Even so, the data highlights that out of the 1,750 new job listings available, marketing still emerges as one of the more remote-working friendly industries, with 5.3% of remote jobs, which is slightly above the national industry average of 4.75%.

In fact, out of the 113,874 new job listings available across the 29 analysed industries, only 5,404 (5%) were listed as fully remote positions.

Back in 2022, the marketing and media industries topped the ranking for the most remote-friendly industries, but with most agencies hauling their staff back in for at least some of the week, there has been a significant shift in how the industry approaches flexible working.

Remote working has faced increasing scrutiny in recent times, with many companies such as Amazon, Boots, and even the Civil Service ordering staff back to the office.

However, the research found that a mass push back to offices is at odds with workers’ expectations, with Google Trends highlighting 91,000 searches for “UK remote jobs” in comparison to “Office jobs UK” (at 21,000) over the past year.

With an estimated 23.2 million Brits already reported to be working from home at least part-time, the return to office mandate is sparking fears that employees may quit in favour of more flexibility.

This comes as a recent survey found that flexibility is the second most important factor for jobseekers, with around one in six respondents saying that a lack of flexible options negatively impacts their work-life balance.

The availability of remote work varies dramatically across industries, with some leading the way in flexible roles while others continue to offer very few options.

The data found that financial services offered the highest number of remote opportunities, with nearly a quarter of all new jobs being remote-friendly.

Leisure and tourism, insurance, sales, and estate agency work made up the rest of the top five industries, each offering between 11% and 20% of roles remotely.

While certain sectors lead the way in offering flexibility, more hands-on industries, such as retail, manufacturing, motoring, social care, transport, and education, offer fewer than 1% of remote positions.

Vestd founder and chief executive Ifty Nasir said: “The research shows a clear divide in job desirability within the market, with employees wanting more flexibility and freedom in their roles, while big organisations demand a somewhat ‘grand’ return to face-to-face office working.

“Those employers who take remote work seriously are gaining a real advantage. They can attract and keep hard-working staff by building teams based on collaborative and supportive work.

“On the other hand, organisations that ignore what their employees want only risk losing talent to competitors who will instead be offering the flexibility which many workers are now expecting.

“Remote working isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore – it’s becoming essential for people’s work-life balance and overall wellbeing.

“Giving people the freedom to work how and where they perform will help to benefit everyone. Adapting to employees’ needs doesn’t just support wellbeing – it plays a key role in improving productivity and retaining skilled people.”

TOPICS:advertising data-driven marketing digital marketing recruitment

Still looking to WFH? You’ll be lucky as roles dry up

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