Being able to save years of studying and debt by skipping college in favor of landing a $200,000 job that lets you work from home straight out of high school sounds like the dream. That’s because it is.
Although companies are increasingly dropping their degree requirements and letting workers dial in for their shift remotely, don’t be fooled into thinking these sorts of jobs will land you the big bucks.
That’s at least according to Ladders. The career site for six-figure jobs has been analyzing the top-paid positions posted on its platform and found that remote work availability and degree requirements have the biggest impact on top-tier salaries.
In fact, only about 12% of the top-paying jobs listed on its site are remote.
What’s more, the majority of the highest-paid positions on the platform are in the medical field, renowned for requiring years of dedicated study to enter.
“The data shows if you want the highest-paying jobs available right now, you should hold an advanced degree and expect to work in person,” John Mullinix, the Ladders director of marketing who led the research team, said in the report. “If you are willing to do those two things, you will face low competition for jobs in your field.”
Remote work has fallen out of favor with bosses
Hot off the heels of the pandemic, companies spent 2021 luring talent with fat paychecks and sweet work-from-home perks, especially in the tech scene.
During the “Great Resignation,” workers job-hopped their way to higher pay at a rate not seen in decades—with 50.5 million people, or about one-third of the U.S. workforce, leaving their jobs in 2022.
Since then, bosses have changed their tune on remote working and begun walking back their promises to never force workers back into the office. Now, they’re even linking pay and progression with showing face.
Ladders’ data shows that remote-work opportunities for the highest wage earners have fallen every quarter since Q3 of 2022.
Remote listings for jobs that pay $200,000 or more declined from 37% to just 12% between Q3 2022 and Q4 2023. Meanwhile, top-paid jobs that require in-person work shot up from 59% of listings in Q3 2022 to nearly 85% in Q4 2023.
While there’s a common belief that the tech world offers greater flexibility compared to corporate companies and traditional vocations, the percentage shift between in-person and remote roles offering over $200,000 was nearly identical in both technology and non-technology sectors.
“The research showed applicants increasingly have to choose between going with the biggest paycheck or getting to stay home,” Mullinix concluded.
The top 20 jobs that pay $200,000 or more
1. Family practitioner/general practitioner
2. Dentist – DDS / DMD
3. General dentist
4. Primary care physician
5. Associate dentist
6. Physician
7. Principal software engineer
8. Senior software engineer
9. Family medicine physician
10. Psychiatrist
11. Sales representative
12. Outpatient psychiatrist
13. Public relations vice president, cybersecurity
14. Adult psychiatrist
15. Dentist
16. OGC | Deloitte automated systems and AI legal counsel
17. Dentist – DDS/DMD
18. Software engineer III
19. SAP CPQ senior consultant
20. Seasonal tax delivery manager – global employer services
All of the top five positions paying over the $200,000 benchmark are in the medical field, with dentistry roles appearing the most frequently and general practitioners nabbing the top spot.
Part of the reason for this, the researchers explain, is because competition for such jobs is low.
It can take up to 11 years to become a doctor, with exhaustive amounts of studying and years of on-the-job training. As a result, there’s a limited pool of people willing to endure such rigor before landing their dream gig.
Yet demand for medical professionals is only growing—pushing hospitals to throw money at the problem.
“Health care jobs account for such a large share of jobs that pay $200,000 or more because there aren’t enough professionals available to fill those roles,” Mullinix said. “Considering America’s aging population and increasing need for medical professionals, I expect health care will remain a top high-paying job for decades to come.”
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on February 23, 2024.
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