Where South Africans can find work-from-home jobs

Remote work opportunities in South Africa may be declining, but several industries, especially IT, still offer flexibility to workers.

Recruitment company Pnet said that the way of working has changed, as has the way companies hire. 

Although some businesses are calling employees back to the office, Pnet’s latest insights show that remote and hybrid work are here to stay, at least in several key industries. 

Data from Discovery and Visa showed that many companies are pushing workers to return to the office.

Discovery Insure’s 2025 Work from Index report also showed that 60% of clients are back in the office 5 days a week. Discovery Bank clients are also spending more on fuel in 2024.

The SpendTrends report by Discovery Bank and Visa noted that following a sharp drop in commuter trips in 2020, average km driven, average trip length and average number of trips taken all increased.

Despite many companies ordering their employees back to the office, Pnet said that the data shows that companies that embrace flexible work gain a competitive edge in talent attraction and retention.

Although local and global trends suggest a return to office work, South Africa’s job market still values flexibility. 

Open remote and hybrid job positions dropped slightly from 4.3% in 2023 to 3.7% in 2024. However, they remain far higher than pre-pandemic levels of just 0.2%. 

The IT sector remains the leader in offering remote work opportunities, particularly in software development, data analysis, and systems administration. IT holds 57% of the total remote work jobs.

Business and Management (14%), Admin (7%), sales (6%), and finance (5%) are also offering remote and hybrid work opportunities. 

Pnet’s data also highlights the benefits of keeping remote and hybrid models in the mix, with vacancies for remote or hybrid work receiving up to 169% more applications.

It added that flexible work keeps employees satisfied and engaged, leading to reduced turnover and stronger retention. 

A hybrid approach also helps balance collaboration and focused work time, boosting efficiency.  

Although some big corporations are bringing employees back to the office full-time, many local businesses are taking a more flexible approach. 

Pnet said that tech, finance and business consulting firms are refining their hybrid work strategies to keep their top talent. Startups and smaller businesses also use flexible work as a hiring advantage. 

The recruitment firm said that businesses need in-person collaboration, but workers require more flexibility, noting that striking a balance is thus the next big challenge.

Big changes for remote work

The data from Pnet align with findings from its sister company, CareerJunction, which pointed to an overall decline in remote work in South Africa but strong demand among IT professionals.

CareerJunction’s latest Employment Insights Report for Q4 2024 examines South Africa’s remote work trends and reveals a steady decline in work-from-home opportunities.

The report said remote or hybrid work was almost non-existent in 2019, at just 0.2% of job vacancies.

CareerJunction’s findings showed that IT still holds the highest number of remote job vacancies, with remote work rising from just 2.3% of jobs in 2019 to 11.5% in 2024.

The top roles with the most remote career opportunities include technical and business architecture, software development, UX design, database design, development and administration.

The REDi Holbourne Recruitment Group said that companies continue to invest heavily in tech talent to ensure that they stay on top of new digital innovations and cybersecurity demands.

Sarah van der Walt, a senior consultant for REDi Recruitment, added that South Africa’s tech industry has a major skills shortage, especially at management levels, pushing up demand for skilled IT workers.