Maine Dept. of Labor: Expanded remote work has led some jobs to be reallocated into different states and sectors

AUGUSTA —  The Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information released a new report June 5 documenting how remote work has affected job trends and the industry composition of jobs. The report compares the changes in the number of jobs to the changes in the number of recorded worksites in Maine.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, jobs and worksites increased at similar rates, according to the Dept. of Labor, in a news release.

The number of worksites in Maine spiked post-COVID, primarily due to increases in remote work. Much of the net job growth in recent years has been among small worksites with five or fewer employees, many with only one.

The shift in growth is due to a combination of people moving to Maine while continuing to work for an employer located elsewhere, and of residents of Maine gaining jobs that allow them to work remotely for employers located elsewhere.

Remote workers are likely to be employed in industries in which information and communication technology are commonly used and tasks do not need to be completed onsite. The adoption of remote work has led some jobs to be reallocated into different states and different sectors. This has occurred through the combination of some remote workers choosing to relocate and incumbent residents starting new remote jobs where employers did not previously have an established worksite in Maine.

In each of these cases, the employer is required to open an unemployment insurance tax account in Maine on behalf of those individuals, resulting in an increase in the number of worksites. Jobs are reported on the basis of where work is being performed. For remote workers primarily based in Maine and working for an employer located in another state, their employment is counted here rather than where the employer is located.

The full report is available here.