Bryant Nielson | July 29, 2022
Blockchain networks built on novel principles like permission-less use, open access, and decentralized infrastructure devoid of the control by one person are hallmarks of the emerging technology. With Blockchain now considered a core IT business strategy – and blockchain business use cases on the rise – a theory that is gaining a solid foothold across multiple industries and sectors is taking shape.
The idea is that Savvy companies who recognize the technology’s disruptive potential and immediately cultivate blockchain talent will gain a significant strategic advantage over those who do not
Moreover, the theory posits that companies that control today’s blockchain talent may indeed rule over tomorrow’s Blockchain industry. The reasoning is that blockchain skills and expertise will be in high demand in the next few years. With forecasts predicting massive Blockchain adoption across multiple industries and sectors, the technology’s business applications will evolve from supporting transactions to providing market-driven blockchain-based products, services, and applications.
The Growing Demand for Skilled, Knowledgeable Blockchain Professionals
With the growing demand for traceable and secure online transactions, blockchain-based businesses are actively raising capital to increase their reach to attract top blockchain talent. Highly skilled, certified Blockchain knowledge workers will be trailblazers architecting next-generation digital products and solutions. These innovations – optimized to leverage the tech’s strengths – are expected to create significant market value and new revenue opportunities across multiple business use cases.
The Blockchain Outlook – In the Light of Stats
According to Techjury,
- 44% of gamers use Blockchain to trade or buy items in a game;
- 55% of commercial healthcare services will adopt Blockchain by 2025;
- In 2018, the service and distribution sector invested $379 million in Blockchain technology;
- In 2018, the manufacturing and resources sector allocated $334 million for Blockchain technology;
- Even nonprofit’s foundations and charities are now adopting Blockchain currencies.
Blockchain as a Transformative Business Solution
With the rapid rise of the blockchain industry – along with the impactful and exciting opportunities for innovating next-generation digital products and solutions, professionals from various backgrounds are pursuing careers in the Blockchain field.
Indeed.com revealed that in January 2018, a considerable rise was seen in the number of candidates looking for positions in Bitcoin, Blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Compared to the classified ads posted at that time, there were not enough open positions to satisfy the job seekers’ inquiries.
Two short years later, Blockchain has topped the list of LinkedIn’s most in-demand skills of 2020. Moreover, Blockchain is the top priority for employers hiring in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Australia, LinkedIn found. Remarkably, 2020 is the first-time Blockchain made it onto LinkedIn’s rankings of in-demand skills. With its debut as the most sought-after skill in 2020, the future looks very bright for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in this space.
What Blockchain Talent Should Your Business Seek?
With industries outside the financial services sector increasingly seeking talent with Blockchain experience, competition for skilled professionals will be significant. Industries like retail, shipping, healthcare, farming, gaming, and more have joined the Financial Services sector in seeking credentialed, certified Blockchain professionals. As such, it’s essential to be aware of the most in-demand roles of Blockchain across the global enterprises to determine how and where your business should allocate the resources for recruiting the right candidates.
After studying the research carried out by U.S. Tech Hubs, published on Builtin.com, four key roles account for 82% of the open positions in the industry, including:
- Software engineering;
- Marketing;
- Operations;
- Finance.
Software engineering
Software engineering roles account for around 44% of the open blockchain positions. There are many different kinds of software engineers, with a range of expertise and specialized skill sets.
This is attributed to the reasoning that blockchain skills and expertise will be in high demand in the next few years as blockchain is predicted to be adopted by most of businesses and industries by then; and this adoption will not only be in terms of transactions but also in the shape of blockchain-driven products, services, and apps. To keep pace with the increasing demand for traceable and secure online transactions, blockchain businesses are raising capital and increasing their reach to the right blockchain talent.
The Blockchain Outlook – In the Light of Stats
According to Techjury,
- 44% of gamers use blockchain to trade or buy items in a game.
- It’s estimated that 55% of commercial healthcare services would adopt blockchain by 2025.
- In 2018, the service and distribution sector invested $379 million in Blockchain technology.
- In 2018, the manufacturing and resources sector allocated $334 million for Blockchain technology
- Even nonprofit’s foundations and charities are now adopting Blockchain currencies.
Blockchain as a Transformative Business Solution
With the rapid rise of the blockchain industry – along with the impactful and exciting opportunities for innovating next-generation digital products and solutions, professionals from various backgrounds are pursuing careers in the Blockchain field.
Indeed.com revealed that in January 2018, a considerable rise was seen in the number of candidates looking for positions in Bitcoin, Blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Compared to the classified ads posted at that time, there were not enough open positions to satisfy the job seekers’ inquiries.
Two short years later, Blockchain has topped the list of LinkedIn’s most in-demand skills of 2020. Moreover, Blockchain is the top priority for employers hiring in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Australia, LinkedIn found. Remarkably, 2020 is the first-time Blockchain made it onto LinkedIn’s rankings of in-demand skills. With its debut as the most sought-after skill in 2020, the future looks very bright for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders in this space.
What Blockchain Talent Should Your Business Seek?
With industries outside the financial services sector increasingly seeking talent with Blockchain experience, competition for skilled professionals will be significant. Industries like retail, shipping, healthcare, farming, gaming, and more have joined the Financial Services sector in seeking credentialed, certified Blockchain professionals. As such, it’s essential to be aware of the most in-demand roles of Blockchain across global enterprises to determine how and where your business should allocate the resources for recruiting the right candidates.
After studying the research carried out by U.S. Tech Hubs, published on Builtin.com, four key roles account for 82% of the open positions in the industry, including:
- Software engineering
- Marketing
- Operations
- Finance
Source: Buildin.com
Software engineering
Software engineering roles account for around 44% of the open blockchain positions. There are many different kinds of software engineers, with a range of expertise and specialized skill sets. When we talk about the Blockchain, the most in-demand skill sets, and coding languages are:
- Front End – 24%
- Javascript – 13%
- Java – 13%
- Golang – 7%
Marketing
Open marketing positions account for 17% of the blockchain positions. Blockchain is a relatively new industry, and most people don’t yet fully understand what it is or how it works. Therefore, it’s critically important to have a great marketing team to convey your business message to diverse stakeholders and audiences.
Operations
Operations are one of Blockchain’s most in-demand roles, accounting for around 13% of all Blockchain positions. Within Operations, the most sought-after skill sets are operations management and information technology (IT):
- Management – 31%
- IT – 31%
- Customer Support – 15%
- Customer Success – 15%
Finance
The Blockchain industry’s roots are in financial services. There are 8% of open blockchain roles attributed to the financial sector. Blockchain’s Financial professionals typically include an advisory role assisting marketing and operations teams in gaining a more technical and better understanding of its Blockchain-based products and services.
Where to Begin?
It is not sufficient to have programming knowledge in one specific field. Becoming a talented blockchain engineer necessitates a substantial time investment in acquiring competency and familiarity with a wide range of tools as well as related technologies.
These considerations have important implications for businesses seeking to adopt Blockchain as a core IT initiative. Depending on bandwidth considerations – and in-house teams’ core competencies – in some cases, companies might be better served by in-house retraining to accomplish their goals. Alternatively, third-party talent agencies provide stop-gap measures to help scale and support Blockchain-related initiatives. Still, the process of searching and vetting qualified candidates can be lengthy and unpredictable.
Blockchain Certified Tech Talent Pipeline: Workforce Development Training Validated Through Digital Badging, microcredentials, and Professional Certification
A third viable option potentially offering businesses and hiring managers tremendous added value – along with speed to market – is the emergence of certified Blockchain training courses and programs offered by top tier College and University Continuing Education & Workforce Development Programs.
These programs offer unique advantages to the business community. For starters, they provide numerous tuition and payment assistance options for people who suffered job losses due to the COVID pandemic. These institutions also rely on well-established digital badging credentials to validate and verify their students’ earned competencies. Additionally, for Blockchain-related skills training, the University’s Extended Learning programs utilize a powerful next-generation digital learning and online community platform called ‘Blockchain Hub 360’. This platform – the first of its kind in the Continuing Education/Workforce Development sector – delivers University partner’s premier Blockchain courses and bundled certificate programs. Additionally, the Hub offers its students, members, and partners professional networking, job placement, online career fairs, virtual hackathons, conferences, events, and more.