Blockchain technology continues to be one of the liberating tools of the 21st century. A report has revealed that there has been a massive increase in the number of people who have found employment with companies building with the burgeoning technology.
According to a report conducted by professional networking platforms, LinkedIn and crypto exchange OKX, the number of individuals working in the blockchain industry has increased by 76% year-on-year as of June 2022.
Going by the data, the United States, India, and China are the top three nations in the world in terms of the volume of citizens that are working in the blockchain industry. The United Kingdom, Singapore and Nigeria, the largest African crypto market occupy the fourth, fifth and sixth positions on the list respectively.
According to the report, India is the nation with the fastest-growing talent pool worldwide, with a growth rate of 122%. After that comes Canada with a growth rate of 106%, followed by Singapore with 92% and Nigeria with 81%.
Among the top 10 blockchain talent demand countries, Spain had the largest growth rate, 609%, in terms of the number of job listings related to blockchain technology. Canada has a growth rate of 560%, Brazil comes third with 518% while Mexico is fourth with 190%.
The report indicates that the finance sector has the largest number of individuals working in the blockchain industry, accounting for 19% of the total. This is followed by engineering, which accounts for 16% of the total. Business development, information technology, and sales occupy the third, fourth and fifth positions with 6% each.
The research concludes that financial talent accounts for the highest proportion of talent, with the greatest demand gap for technical talents such as engineering and IT talent. There is a significant gap in the need for technical skills:
“There is currently a large gap in demand for technical talent in the global blockchain talent pool. Up until June 2022, in terms of job postings, engineering talent tops the global demand for blockchain talent, followed by IT talent. Product management, marketing and human resources are close behind. The finance category, which currently ranks first in terms of blockchain talent, is only sixth in terms of hiring demand.”
Also according to the report, in terms of talent growth, the top five fastest growing global blockchain talent roles are quality assurance analyst, cryptologic technician, compliance specialist, artist, and support analyst.
Also, Quality assurance analysts showed the highest growth rate from June 2021 to June 2022, at 713%, with the cryptologic technician and compliance specialist in second and third place, respectively, both growing at over 250%.
The fastest-growing roles reflect that, with the progress of blockchain technology research and
its penetration, integration and development in various industries and fields, the blockchain industry is transitioning from being highly financial to being highly technical in nature. It
Blockchain solving unemployment
One of the age-long problems plaguing developing regions like Africa is unemployment. According to data by credit rating agency Agusto & Co, Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose by 35% in 2021.
Things haven’t fared better since then, rather it has gone far worse, with growing inflation, economic downturn and insecurity at alarming rates. The country’s young population have no other choice than to run to the technology sector to learn skills with which they can earn a living.
One of the burgeoning sectors that have given African and Nigerian youths employment is the blockchain sector. ‘Tech Bro’ and ‘Tech Sis’ are familiar phrases used to refer to young persons with in-demand tech skills, usually working remotely and earning in dollars.
Apart from crypto trading, young people and in some cases, teens make a living working in blockchain companies as developers, community managers, content writers, brand ambassadors and other numerous lucrative positions.
Although the report indicates that professionals with at least a master’s degree account
for 40% of talent in the global blockchain industry, the space in Nigeria has witnessed a steady and increased influx of undergraduates who are staying idle as a result of an industry strike by University lecturers or fresh graduates waiting for the next phase of their lives.
For instance, Micah Bamigboye, a fresh graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University told Technext that the Covid-19 lockdown was the defining point in his life. When the pandemic was at its peak, uncertainty loomed and everything seemed bleak. The final year student of the Department of English had no choice but to learn cryptocurrency trading.
With consistency and tenacity, he understood the underlying principles of the technology, became skilled in crypto trading and has now grown to become a profound trader, brand ambassador for notable blockchain platforms and blockchain content writer for one of the leading African crypto media.
In his words:
“Covid-19 opened my eyes to the Nigerian reality. An outlook of how postgraduate days would be without tech skills. I took advantage of the enormous free time, and within a few weeks, I made more than my combined 6-month allowance. I knew at that moment I wasn’t going back. All thanks to blockchain technology.”
Going forward, with the look of things, blockchain technology will continue to save youths from the hands of unemployment. Given the growing interest in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, there will be a continued increase in the number of people who will find employment in this emerging technology sector.
Another report by Ripples, a blockchain company, with products in commercial use by hundreds of customers across 50+ countries, in August, indicates that 76% of financial institutions want to utilise blockchain tech for payments by 2025.
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