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New data shows Palmetto State lags far behind national trends in flexible work options…

South Carolina has found itself at the bottom of the U.S. job market when it comes to remote work opportunities, with only 2% of open roles offering fully remote work, according to a comprehensive analysis of more than 5 million job postings nationwide.

While flexible work has become a hallmark of the modern labor force – and a non-negotiable benefit for many job seekers – the Palmetto State remains overwhelmingly in-office, outpaced by nearly every other state. According to a job market study by JobLeads, South Carolina ranks behind Mississippi (4%) and West Virginia (3%) on this metric.

Nationally, trends show a marked decline in remote job postings compared with the boom years during and after Covid-19. Currently, only about 6% of newly listed U.S. jobs are fully remote – with another 7% offering hybrid options.

South Carolina falls well below even that modest mark, however, with just 2% of jobs fully remote and few hybrid options – a sharp contrast to remote-friendly states like Oregon (10%) or the District of Columbia (8%).

This data paints a particularly distinct picture for local workers who want the flexibility to work from home – or for employers trying to attract top talent in a competitive labor market.

Several structural factors help explain South Carolina’s weak showing:

Although other sources show rural parts of South Carolina already had comparatively low work-from-home rates even before the most recent analysis – with fewer than one in ten workers regularly working at home in 2023 – the JobLeads data underscores just how extreme the state’s remote-work drought has become relative to national norms.

With so few positions fully remote – and most positions tied to physical workplaces – the Palmetto State’s labor landscape is a reminder that not all parts of the country are embracing the future of work equally.