As Coronavirus continues to spread, you may be reluctant to take people-centric positions for fear of getting sick. But if you don’t want your finances to expire while you sit out the pandemic, you’ll need an alternative. Consider remote jobs for the Coronavirus era.

What kind of jobs are these? They vary widely, from professional to trade positions. What they have in common is that they can be done from home — anywhere, really. And you can generally signal your availability to do them online, without ever having to meet in person. Perfect for the Coronavirus era, where “social distancing” is trending.

Remote jobs

What can you do from the relative safety of your own home? Naturally, the answer depends on your skills. The opportunities are decidedly better in fields that require intellect and creativity, rather than physical strength. Still, there are options for nearly everyone.

Here are a twenty online platforms that offer remote jobs for the Coronavirus era.

Teach English

If you are a native English speaker without a visible accent, you can teach English to Chinese kids through one of several online platforms. VIPKIDs, QKids, and Magic Ears all hire native English speakers to teach after dinner and on weekends — Beijing time.

These jobs work particularly well for people who don’t mind working at odd hours. That’s because Beijing time is 12-hours ahead of Eastern Time right now. In other words, to tutor a Chinese child 6 p.m. Monday Bejing time, a New Yorker would need to be at his or her computer at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. California-based tutors need to embrace their insomnia to make it work, given that they’d need to be awake and perky at 3 a.m.

Pay and requirements for teaching vary by platform. VIPKID, which requires a bachelor’s degree but no teaching experience, pays between $14 and $22. Magic Ears, requires some teaching experience, though it can be informal, and an English as a Second Language certificate. (These generally can be earned online.) Magic Ears pays $18 – $26 per hour. QKids, which requires an audition but has few education requirements, pays between $16 and $20 per hour.

Tutor

If you have mad skills in almost anything — English, science, math, music — you can make good money tutoring online. Wyzant, Varsity Tutors and Chelsea International Education all offer to connect tutors with students needing academic help. If you teach art, dance, drama or music, you can tutor online through LessonFace and TakeLessons.

Write

No job is quite as amenable to working remotely as writing. And literally dozens of online platforms will pay you to do it. The one caveat: A number of these companies are so-called “content mills” that will try to convince you to write for pennies a word. Even if you’re prolific, that’s no way to make a living.

Platforms where you can find better-paid writing jobs include Contently, Skyword, Cracked, and the Washington Post Talent Network. You can find information about each platform’s specialty and rates in their reviews, linked above.

Edit

If you have experience editing books or manuscripts for content or errors, you may be able to make decent money editing for Reedsy. This platform primarily works with self-published authors, who need advice and copy editing.

Work as a virtual assistant

If you’ve got a penchant for organization, look into becoming a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants can do everything remotely that executive assistants do in an office, short of fetching coffee. Some schedule meetings, travel and conferences. Others handle social media updates and strategy or update company websites.

Because duties and experience vary widely, so does the pay. Virtual assistants can earn anywhere between $15 and $75 per hour. However, the higher pay tends to go to assistants with exceptional social media or technical skills. You can find virtual assistant work through Boldly or Belay.

Professional services

If your skills fall on the professional side — business development, marketing, web development, design, etc. — there are a variety of platforms that can connect you with well-paid work.

FreeeUp is a marketplace where all sorts of professionals — content creators, accountants, marketing experts, web developers and administrators — can find work that pays between $10 and $75 per hour.

SkiptheDrive is a free curated job board for telecommuters. FlexJobs charges for access to it’s curated telecommuting jobs. But some users maintain the fees are well worth the price because the site does an exceptional job of making sure the job listings are current and legitimate. 

WorkingNotWorking finds positions for digital creatives in advertising, film, web and game design.

Work at Home Vintage Experts connects seasoned executives in insurance, human resources and accounting with small businesses that need regular help.