Remote work already connects millions of people with companies they would never have been able to work for a decade ago. But compared with the size of the global labour market, it may still be early.
The interesting number is not only how many people work remotely today — it is how many roles could plausibly become remote or hybrid next.
The chart above starts with roughly 3.3 billion people employed worldwide. Around 300 million jobs are already remote or hybrid, while an additional pool of roughly 250 million roles could potentially move in that direction as technology, workflows and company culture continue to change.
Skills are becoming more portable
This matters because more work can increasingly be matched to expertise rather than location. AI training and evaluation are a good example: companies need lawyers, engineers, designers, editors, researchers, finance professionals and many other specialists to help improve AI systems.
For workers, that creates access to projects outside their local market. For companies, it expands the talent pool from one city or country to the world.
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