A survey by AI powered job search platform Global Work AI, powered by AI agents, has analyzed the preferences of more than 5 million job seekers worldwide and revealed a tendency among qualified specialists to actively seek unskilled jobs. The phenomenon of “underemployment”, more common in immigrant communities, has crept into the remote job market as the work-from-home trend continues to grow.
While the education profile of job-seekers skews heavily toward degree holders: 62.75 per cent have completed higher education, such low-skilled jobs as Data Entry, Customer Service, and Assistant, make the top 3 sought for requests.
The “brain waste” has spread among educated professionals, particularly in emerging economies, who accept remote lower-skilled positions for the companies abroad, due to the significant wages gap at home and in such countries as the US. For instance, a dentist in Nigeria earns approximately $1,885 per month, while a U.S.-based data entry role pays over $4,000.
The study has analysed the remote work trends across the most popular user geographies, including the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, etc. and determined the remote work patterns in correlation to the Human Development Index (HDI).
Remote work topped the list in both high-HDI countries (HDI ≥ 0.900) like the US and UK, and lower-HDI nations (HDI between 0.550 and 0.699) such as Nigeria and Kenya, where 60 – 80 per cent of users are pursuing remote opportunities.
In high-HDI countries like the US, UK, and Canada, job seekers predominantly search for remote roles within domestic markets. Meanwhile, workers in countries like Kenya, India, and Nigeria are leveraging bilingualism to tap into better-paying roles in developed economies.
By contrast, middle-HDI countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Romania, and South Africa, characterised by the dominance of native languages, show intense interest in remote jobs, up to 85 per cent, but focus mainly on internal markets.
Hybrid work options, once touted as the future of employment, remain the least popular choice globally. According to the survey, job seekers often see hybrid models as logistically complex or limiting.
On-site work remains in steady demand across geographies, even in developed countries, amid fears of layoffs and economic uncertainty.
In terms of demographic insights, there’s a significant difference in gender distribution. Remote job-seekers, identifying themselves as female, account for more than 70 per cent of users, compared to just under 30 per cent for male users. Nearly two-thirds (65.7 per cent) of the job-seekers today, are Millennials and late Zoomers (25 – 40 years old)
Middle-level professionals make up the largest group of job seekers on the platform (30.37 per cent), while junior specialists (7.38 per cent) and executive-level users (3.47 per cent) remain a minority. The trend is largely impacted by recent layoffs on middle specialists, who now seek side gigs or projects to maintain income streams.
While side gigs are in demand among job-seekers, all forms of work commitments, either full-time, part-time, or contract, are actively searched for, with 62.7 per cent of applicants being available to work immediately.
The Tech sector continues to dominate the best-paying remote roles. Eight out of ten of the highest-paying positions are in the IT sector, including Data Engineer, Engineering Manager, Machine Learning Engineer, and Data Scientist.
Global Work’s data highlights the complex and often contradictory nature of today’s job market from the perspective of an applicant, where education, technology, economic disparity, and globalisation are shaping the future of work for millions.
