Being a virtual assistant (VA) is now the top dream job among Filipinos, according to a study by digital financial services provider Remitly Global Inc..
The report, released on Tuesday, June 30, found that “virtual assistant” ranked as the most sought-after career in the Philippines based on Google searches for “how to be a…” or “how to become a…” in local languages from May 2025 to May 2026.
The findings mark a shift in career aspirations, with the VA role overtaking doctor as the country’s most desired profession.
“The dream job in the Philippines is virtual assistant, followed by doctor and vlogger,” Remitly said in the report.
This represents a significant change from the company’s 2024 study, when doctor emerged as the most searched career among Filipinos. Remitly noted that Filipinos’ dream jobs now reflect a mix of traditional and digital professions.
Based on the report, doctor ranks second, followed by vlogger, lawyer, actor, astronaut, flight attendant, diplomat, content creator, and social media manager.
The study analyzed search data covering 424 occupations across 145 countries.
Globally, the report showed that actor remains the world’s top dream job—a position it has held since Remitly began the study in 2022.
“Being an actor has overtaken pilot as the world’s most searched dream job for the first time, with 222,080 annual searches for ‘how to be an actor’ (up 11.5% from 2024),” the report said.
Data showed that searches for actor reached 222,080 annually worldwide, up about 12% from 2024.
Pilot ranked second globally with 221,060 searches, although interest in the profession has dropped by more than 48% since earlier editions of the study.
“Despite the drop, becoming a pilot remains the top dream job in 11 countries, including India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, Sweden, the UAE, Kuwait, Latvia and Antigua and Barbuda,” Remitly added.
Firefighter placed third globally, followed by lawyer, while YouTuber rounded out the top five.
The latest edition of the study also highlighted the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on career aspirations.
“In an era where AI is rewriting entire industries, the creator economy has gone from niche to normal, and people are more open than ever to a fresh start in a new country, the question of ‘what do I want to do with my life?’ has rarely felt more open-ended,” the report said.
Remitly added that more workers are now willing to pivot, reskill, or move abroad to pursue their ideal careers, whether to support their families or to build new lives overseas.
Ryan Riley, Remitly’s vice president of marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC), described the rise of AI-related roles as a “striking finding.”
“Just three years ago, virtually no one was searching for roles like ‘prompt engineer.’ Today, AI-related careers are beginning to appear in the data, reflecting how quickly new technologies are reshaping the way people think about work. As AI continues to evolve, we expect this area of the study to change dramatically from year to year,” Riley said.
