“Coronavirus acted as a catalyst for me,” said Susie Middleton, 39, who was working as a sales manager for a tour operator in Oxfordshire when she was put on furlough at the beginning of April.

Within two months, after 15 years in the travel industry, she realized the employment landscape was shifting.

“I feel that everything’s going to be different when we come out of this, everybody’s going to be transforming work,” Ms. Middleton said. She decided to leave her job and become a project manager in the travel, public or nonprofit sectors.

She figures that many people who began working from home during the lockdown will continue doing just that after the pandemic, putting new demands on organizations to manage remote employees and flexible work schedules. She took a two-day course recently to further her qualifications in project management, and already has a few interviews lined up, she said.