During 2017 and early 2018, there were many companies that expressed an interest in exploring the potential benefits of using blockchain technology to streamline their business processes.
As different organizations throughout the world began to look into how distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be used to either save operational costs and make transactions more transparent, the demand for blockchain developers increased significantly.
Declining Cryptocurrency Prices Also Affecting Blockchain Job Market
However, the sharp decline in the prices of blockchain-based cryptoassets has also affected the job market in the digital asset industry.
According to a research report published earlier this year, the demand for blockchain-related jobs had increased by 636.83%. During Q2 2018, there were many firms in the IT services sector, fund & securities industries, and computer software industry that had been looking to recruit professionals who had experience working on blockchain-related projects.
Last month, however, the Tsinghua University and BlockData released a report which revealed that the demand for blockchain-focused jobs had dropped by up to 50%. An excerpt from the report reads:
It is worth noting that [there have been significantly fewer] initial coin offerings (ICO) [that have been launched] since March, and the entire market has gradually become more [critical of new projects]. The [crypto] industry is paying more attention to [real] developments. The … demand for core technologies developers now exceeds the supply. However, the demand for market and operation talent has decreased.
Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba Interested In Hiring Blockchain Professionals
Although the salaries for blockchain-related work may have dropped during the past three months, China-based IT giants including Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent have all been looking to recruit blockchain developers.
According to job listings on large recruitment websites in China, there are many fintech companies that want to hire people that can help them develop blockchain-based solutions.
As CryptoGlobe reported in early September, both the supply and demand for cryptocurrency and blockchain-related jobs in Asia had been on the rise.
The dramatic increase in digital currency prices during 2017 and the excessive hype created by media outlets caused many firms in healthcare, logistics, and the finance sector to begin exploring use cases for blockchain technology. Due to the rise in the number of DLT-related projects, recruitment firm, Robert Walters, had found that there had been a 50% increase in the number of blockchain and crypto-related jobs.
More Companies Looking For Blockchain Developers, Fewer Seeking Jobs
The managers of Indeed.com, a US-based employment-related search engine for job listings, had reported in mid-November 2018 that there were signficantly fewer people interested in blockchain and crypto-related jobs.
Indeed.com’s management revealed that online job searches for blockchain, bitcoin (BTC), and crypto-related roles had dropped by 3.06% during the time period from October 2017 to October 2018.
While there may not be as many job seekers, there seem to be many more firms in need of distributed ledger technology (DLT) developers. In fact, the number of job listings for crypto and blockchain specialists increased by 25.49% between October 2017 and October 2018.
