Section 01 Demand

The demand for knowledge workers is surging.

COVID-19 pushed businesses to accelerate their digital transformations by as much as 6 years in the United States1. Knowledge workers are driving this innovation for enterprises. In order to keep up, employers have to evolve. But that’s a challenge for a country and localized markets with significant talent gaps.

66 jobs

The average enterprise is hiring for 66 knowledge worker jobs. With half of all roles taking at least 30 days to hire, that's the equivalent of three cumulative years spent recruiting talent that needs to be hired now.

1 out of 4

23% of enterprises are hiring for 200+ knowledge worker roles. And 6% are hiring 1,000+ knowledge worker roles.

Enterprises in the Consumer and Technology
industries are hiring the most knowledge workers.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 01

Sectors hiring the most knowledge workers

35%

Consumer

25%

Technology

11%

Healthcare

10%

Industrial

10%

Finance

5%

Media,
Entertainment,
Telecommunications

4%

Other

Consumer includes Retail, CPG, Auto and Travel businesses. Finance includes Banking, Financial Services and Insurance businesses.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 02

Top 10 companies hiring the most knowledge workers

  • 1

    Target

  • 2

    The Home Depot

  • 3

    Advance Auto Parts

  • 4

    Marriot

  • 5

    Intuit

  • 6

    Tractor Supply

  • 7

    Wells Fargo

  • 8

    CVS

  • 9

    Ulta

  • 10

    Kroger

Enterprises with the most amount of knowledge worker roles open.

While talent hubs like New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle are
no surprise, Denver and Dallas round out the top five metro
areas hiring knowledge workers. Up-and-coming hiring markets
like Austin, Charlotte2, and San Diego also join the leaderboard.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 03

Top 15 metro areas hiring knowledge workers

  • 1

    Bay Area

  • 2

    New York

  • 3

    Denver

  • 4

    Dallas

  • 5

    Seattle

  • 6

    Phoenix

  • 7

    Washington DC

  • 8

    Chicago

  • 9

    Austin

  • 10

    Los Angeles

  • 11

    Atlanta

  • 12

    Charlotte

  • 13

    San Diego

  • 14

    Las Vegas

  • 15

    Boston

3 5 1 14 10 13 6 4 8 11 12 7 2 15 9

Section 02 Data Snapshot

Data snapshot

360000 +

open jobs analyzed.

150000 +

open knowledge worker
positions identified.

600 +

enterprises.

Data includes enterprises from the S&P 500, Forbes Cloud 100, Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud Index.

800 +

talent.

Global knowledge workers participated in the survey.

Section 03 Tech Talent

All companies are
becoming tech companies.

While knowledge workers are in high demand, tech workers who specialize in data science, product, engineering, and design are critical to business growth. And it’s not just Technology companies who need them. Half of open tech roles are being hired in industries outside of Technology that need to accelerate their digital

1 out of 3

29% of knowledge worker job openings are tech roles (Data Science, Product, Engineering, Design).

1 out of 2

46% of open tech roles are outside of the Technology industry.

Outside of the Technology industry, enterprises in Industrial and Consumer industries are trying to hire the most tech talent.

BT-icon-green Figure 04

Sectors hiring the most tech talent

Technology 54%
Industrial 12%
Consumer 12%
Healthcare 8%
Finance 5%
Media, Entertainment, TelecommunicationsOther 7%
Other 2%

Consumer includes Retail, CPG, Auto and Travel businesses.
Finance includes Banking, Financial Services and Insurance businesses.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 05

Top 10 companies hiring the most tech talent

  • 1

    Microsoft

  • 2

    Tesla

  • 3

    Oracle

  • 4

    PayPal

  • 5

    Apple

  • 6

    Adobe

  • 7

    Wells Fargo

  • 8

    Lockheed Martin

  • 9

    Thermo Fisher Scientific

  • 10

    General Dynamics

Enterprises with the most amount of tech roles open.

Section 04 Remote Work

The Remote Work Revolution of 2020 isn’t translating into mass opportunities for remote- first knowledge work jobs.

While the past year would suggest more and more companies are going remote, only 6% of open knowledge worker roles are actually hiring as remote-first. In a post-COVID world, it seems that enterprises are still wed to an office-first culture.

While the past year would suggest more and more companies are going remote, only 6% of open knowledge worker roles are actually hiring as remote-first. In a post-COVID world, it seems that enterprises are still wed to an office-first culture.

While the past year would suggest more and more companies are going remote, only 6% of open knowledge worker roles are actually hiring as remote-first. In a post-COVID world, it seems that enterprises are still wed to an office-first culture.

3 out of 50

The number of open knowledge
worker roles hiring remote-first.

Tech and Finance are the most likely to be remote-first, but at substantially lower rates compared to total open knowledge worker roles.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 06

Team breakdown of roles hiring remote-first

Tech

32%

Finance

24%

Sales

9%

Customer service

6%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

BT-icon-green Figure 07

Top 10 companies hiring the greatest percentage of remote-first talent

  • 1

    Maximus

  • 2

    Medallia

  • 3

    Dropbox

  • 4

    Crowdstrike

  • 5

    Stryker

  • 6

    PerkinElmer

  • 7

    New Relic

  • 8

    Equinix

  • 9

    Okta

  • 10

    Intuit

Enterprises with more than 50 open roles with the highest percentage
of remote-first roles out of total knowledge worker roles open.

Braintrust_Symbol_White Figure 08

Top 10 companies hiring the most remote-first talent

  • 1

    Intuit

  • 2

    Amazon

  • 3

    Facebook

  • 4

    Stryker

  • 5

    New Relic

  • 6

    Allstate Insurance

  • 7

    Salesforce

  • 8

    Carmax

  • 9

    United Health Group

  • 10

    Thermo Fisher Scientific

Enterprises with the greatest amount of remote-first roles open.

These remote-minded organizations in the top 10 all share something in common — a technology- focused business.

Technology companies have a broader acceptance of a remote-first approach than more traditional industries.

BT-icon-dark-green Figure 09

Sectors hiring the most remote-first knowledge workers

Technology 50%
Healthcare 20%
Consumer 9%
Finance 8%
Industrial 5%
Other 3%

Consumer includes Retail, CPG, Auto and Travel businesses.
Finance includes Banking, Financial Services and Insurance businesses.

But don’t be fooled, even within the Technology sector, far more roles are tied to an office than are offering a remote-first position.

BT-icon-dark-green Figure 10

Share of open remote-first jobs compared to
total open knowledge worker jobs per sector

Open knowledge worker jobs

Share of remote-first jobs per sector

Consumer

Finance

Healthcare

Industrial

Technology

Consumer

2%

Finance

4%

Healthcare

9%

Industrial

2%

Technology

12%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%

Companies headquartered in the West boast the highest number of knowledge worker job openings, as well as the highest percentage of remote roles.

While that may not be shocking given the Bay Area's big tech epicenter, it’s a stark contrast to the strong demand for knowledge workers in the South, which has the lowest percentage of remote work roles.

This dichotomy is indicative of the larger problem employers find themselves in: there are not enough localized knowlege workers to fill roles, yet they have a limited remote work strategy to get more talent inside the organization.

BT-icon-dark-green Figure 11

Total knowledge worker
open jobs by region

West 33%
South 29%
Midwest 22%
Northeast 16%

BT-icon-dark-green Figure 12

Total remote-first
open jobs by region

West 52%
Midwest 18%
Northeast 16%
South 14%

Section 05 Expectations

The job expectations of talent
are evolving.

If enterprises want to meet their hiring and innovation goals, they need to meet the evolving needs of talent. This means going from centralized to decentralized models of work and moving beyond the traditional employment benefits of the past and providing the one benefit talent care about the most: freedom.

In conjunction with the jobs analysis, Braintrust also surveyed 800 global knowledge workers to learn about the needs and expectations of talent.

It has been a year of advancement, evolution, and examination for knowledge workers.

83%

of knowledge workers had to learn new skills last year.

37%

of those had to learn a significant number of new skills while others had to relearn “everything.”

After spending time working remotely, workers are re- examining what matters.

85%

of knowledge workers are open
to becoming freelancers.

Why ?

  • 1

    Work from anywhere

  • 2

    Be your own boss

  • 3

    Work on jobs of interest

85 M

That’s a potential
85 million freelancers.3

100M Knowledge Workers

Financial stability is the #1 reason talent haven’t quit their full time jobs.

73%

of knowledge workers who are not freelancers say financial stability is the reason they choose traditional employment.

What’s stopping them from making the leap?

  • 1

    Finding quality, consistent work

  • 2

    Managing administrative duties like taxes

  • 3

    Getting started

BT-icon-green Figure 13

Reasons to prefer a full time job over freelancing

Financial Stability 73%
No clear mentorship or growth path 12%
Lack skills or education 6%
No interest in freelancing 5%
Traditional employee benefits 4%

Benefits are no
longer the must-have
incentive.

1 out of 25

4% of knowledge workers listed traditional benefits like health insurance and 401k programs as reasons to prefer full time employment.

What freelancers say
about security and motivation.

Untitled-1-3

If I could redefine security for myself now it would be that I feel more in control of my time, take a vacation without the need for approval and for as long as I want. Security is knowing I have the autonomy to work from anywhere, knowing I'm bringing valuable solutions, deciding the clients I want to work with. When I worked as a full-time employee I felt I was losing my time, I was stuck, trapped, not growing.

Untitled-8-3

Andreia Treptow

Design Strategist

Untitled-1-3

Freelancing doesn’t offer more or less security than being an employee. The only thing you get as an employee is maybe a severance package if you are let go. But usually as contractors we are paid more to offset that. In either situation, though, you can be without work at a day’s notice. I find that freelancing actually offers greater flexibility, as you can line up clients and even afford your own downtime, if you factor all that into your rates.

Untitled-8-1

Bill Pairaktaridis

Senior Frontend Developer

Untitled-1-3

Security means autonomy, agency, and unlimited potential. It’s up to you.

Untitled-8-2

Shayne Heathfield

UX & Visual Designer

Section 06 Predictions

How enterprises will adapt.

The Knowledge Work Demand Index illustrates three major trends:

1

Broad demand across every industry for skilled knowledge workers

2

Extended hiring cycles for those roles

3

Limited adoption of remote work policies geared to workers' desires

Prediction 1

Enterprises will double remote-first roles in the next year.

In order to compete for talent and to ultimately build successful teams, enterprises will recognize that the four walls of a corporate office can no longer define who can be hired. They will augment local teams with remote contributors to efficiently grow talent and expertise. Decentralizing their teams will open the door to a global talent market.

Prediction 2

Independent workers will be everywhere in an organization, and no one will notice.

Enterprises will find contributors outside of traditional full time employment. Recognizing where freelance and independent knowledge workers can be placed across decentralized teams will reduce lengthy hiring processes and drive results faster in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

BT-icon-dark-green Figure 14

What talent want

Location freedom

63%

Be your own boss

61%

Choice of jobs

54%

Choice of hours

47%

Variety

36%

Set own salary

36%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Untitled-1-3

If you don't have to bring someone into your office, it opens up the set of people you're willing to consider for a job. I think that this forced experimentation meant that some firms or some leaders who didn't think that this would have been possible have now realized that they can pull off different models relative to what they had experience with.

Professor Chris Stanton

Professor Chris Stanton

Harvard Business School

Section 07Methodology

Our methodology

Jobs analysis

367,822 open jobs analyzed in Q2 2021 across 649 companies on the S&P 500, Forbes Cloud
100, and Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud Index. This report focuses on the 155,235
open jobs for knowledge workers.

Survey

808 knowledge worker respondents from two datasets:

—  675 representative sample of Americans, 85% are employed, 15% are freelancers

—  Global Braintrust Talent, 22% are employed, 78% are freelancers.

Jobs analysis

Tech role: Jobs with titles including Software Engineering, Data Science, Product Manage-ment and Design related to software products.

Knowledge worker: Roles that do not include shift or seasonal work, involve driving, or take place in a location other than an office or home.

Sources