Asia has seen a 50% increase in jobs in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector since last year, according to London-based professional international recruitment firm Robert Walters Plc.
The company, which has offices in nearly 30 countries around the globe, notes that “jobs that involved working with blockchain technology and digital assets are still growing” in spite of recent downward trends in the prices of cryptocurrencies.
The trend is similar in other regions
However, as CNBC highlights, Asia is not the only region in the world that is observing rapidly-increasing blockchain jobs as the trend is also noted in Europe and the United States, among other places.
READ MORE: Blockchain jobs in Berlin and Melbourne
Robert Walters’ Director of Financial Services John Mullally says that “not many people have the actual skill sets” when it comes to cryptocurrency jobs. This is a factor that makes the demand and salaries for professionals with blockchain and crypto skills to be increasingly high.
Python developers, the most sought-after
The recruitment agency also notes that job postings for blockchain and crypto experts have increased steadily with developers with Python language skills topping the list of the most sought after.
READ MORE: Eight top interviewer tips for a blockchain technology job
Along with firms seeking more and more experts with knowledge and skills within the revolutionary technology sector, job seekers are also gradually increasing. Indeed, the job search engine, there has been much interest in blockchain roles in Asian markets, including Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Crypto, blockchain in early stages
However, because crypto and blockchain are still in very early stages, many of the newcomers to the sector come from other industries.
“We hardly ever hire from inside of crypto because most people inside of crypto are very inexperienced,” says Singapore-based crypto wallet and card startup TenX Co-founder Julian Hosp.
“You have very, very few people who are experienced who get into the crypto industry.”
READ MORE: Cryptocurrency marks the beginning of a ‘new era’
Mullaly agrees: “Even though there are plenty of blockchain enthusiasts looking to join the industry, not many people have the actual skill sets required for developer roles.”
A trend led by emotion
Although, in general, the demand for jobs and for experts in the blockchain and crypto sector is steadily growing, it has shown some ups and downs in line with the price of digital coins.
“If crypto is doing well, if people are making money in crypto, we get huge inbound from people because they feel like, ‘I need to jump on this wave,'” Hosp says in an interview with CNBC.
“And then when you see crypto going down — and we saw this at the very beginning of this year and we’re seeing this right now — then we see that immediately the demand of people, they’re like, ‘Oh no, this is a dying industry, I shouldn’t go in there.’ So it’s entirely emotional.”
READ MORE: India fears its policy towards exchanges may force talent and jobs elsewhere
Indeed data shows similar tendencies revealing that Asian job seeker interest in Bitcoin-related roles peaked as the price of BTC reached highs of up to $20,000 in the second half of 2017. And when the price began to wane, so did job interest in the field.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.