Blockchain is mainly known as the system on which Bitcoin thrives, but as crypto continues to gain foot in the mainstream world on its route to mass adaptation, the technology behind it opens up a complete new world of job opportunities across the fintech sector.
Career platform LinkedIn also noticed that crypto is becoming increasingly popular after a recent study. Jobs with the crypto-related search terms increased by 395% in the United States last year.
The United States of America hosts nearly 40 percent of all blockchain jobs
This data shows a country by country breakdown of the number of jobs currently on LinkedIn which include “Blockchain” in the description in different countries around the world.
According to data gathered from career platform LinkedIn, the United States has the highest number of jobs in the blockchain industry on offer with, 19029 vacancies advertised on the platform at the time of writing. This makes up for 39.73 percent of all blockchain related job ads listed.
India is known to be home to a high number of tech jobs. The country follows suit in LinkedIn’s ranking with 9660 blockchain jobs listed, totalling over 20 percent of all blockchain roles advertised for.
Countries with the highest interest in blockchain jobs in the last year
This data shows how google search popularity for “blockchain jobs” has fluctuated over the last five years. This data is taken from Google Trends which annotates the search term a popularity rating between 0-100 within the given time frame.
Despite the wary adaptation of cryptocurrencies in Singapore, the interest of search engine users here is the highest in the world, scoring 100 out of 100. The Asian city-state welcomes the technologies of cryptocurrency, with 2.01 percent of job ads being based from Singapore.
According to the chairman of the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the local population has invested a total of $20 billion in cryptocurrencies, and this peak in interest reflects back in the search volume coming from this country. By Western standards a poverty-driven Third World country, Pakistan could benefit from the rise of crypto and the employment opportunities that come with it.
The United Kingdom scores fifth in terms of most blockchain jobs advertised for at 3.16 percent, which correlates with the search volume from the British Island. According to Google Trends, the UK’s search volume scores 30 out of 100.
California offers the most blockchain jobs in the United States
This section breaks down the stats in the US by state, as the United States offers the biggest number of blockchain related job advertisements.
Given that Silicon Valley is located in the state of California which is home to a number of crypto related start-ups, it comes as no surprise that this state offers the highest number of blockchain jobs on the platform at nearly 22 percent out of all US vacancies.
New York is the centre of the world, so it’s said. This also rings true in terms of blockchain jobs, as 11.51 percent of blockchain jobs, a total of 2305at the time of writing, are up for grabs in this state.
Regions in the USA with the highest interest In blockchain jobs in the last year
In line with the job opportunities the state of New York has, 11.51 percent of all US based vacancies, it makes sense that the interest and search volume for blockchain employment in New York is the highest in the country.
Following closely are Minnesota, scoring 96 out of 100 in search volume interest, California with 83 out of 100 and the state of Georgia ranks forth with 73 points.
New job opportunities created by blockchain
CryptoAdvisor spoke with Kristi Yuthas and Stan Heister – Founders of the Business Blockchain Certificate Program at Portland State University, about the employment opportunities’ blockchain has given. The program is fully online and available to undergraduate and graduate students as well as to working professionals. In recent years they have seen a sharp increase in interest in the courses they provide, in line with the rise of jobs offered.
Have you seen a significant growth in demand from students registering for this course since you launched?
We have seen steady growth in demand for the courses within the Blockchain for Business Certificate Program since its inception in 2019. We are midway through the third year of the program and each year has seen an increase in students. For example, the Blockchain for Business course taught in our Winter term (presently) grew nearly 50% from last year to this year.
Could you provide a brief outline of what the course offers students and how you think it will help them?
The Portland State University Blockchain for Business Certificate Program is focused on business implications and benefits of blockchain and related technologies. The certificate covers three areas: fundamentals such as architectures and tokenomics, business strategies for creating and capturing value, and emerging technologies including metaverse, digital twins, internet of things and artificial intelligence. Blockchain and other exponential technologies will affect every aspect of business.
With the skills they gain in our program, students will understand how these technologies increase efficiency, transparency and security. In addition, they gain first-hand knowledge of how the tech can support multi-firm collaboration and innovation. Our pedagogy includes readings, videos and software labs as well as weekly workshops with experts and consulting projects with businesses.
What would you say are the key motivating factors behind students deciding to take this course?
This has evolved some over the past three years. Initially, students who took these courses were motivated by the concept, relative newness and uniqueness of blockchain and distributed ledger systems. These are still motivating factors, but now we are seeing many students enrolling based on the reputation the program has gained over the past three years. Students who take our courses work directly with businesses and blockchain companies so both the students and employers share their positive experiences.
Why do you think these skill sets are becoming more desirable?
Enterprise Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology is gaining traction in the business world. If you consider Gartner’s Blockchain Spectrum report, it is predicted that these technologies will enter the mature stage around the year 2025. Students taking the program now will likely graduate in the next two years placing them in companies just as the technology begins to become mainstream.
Our findings show that Blockchain jobs are much more prevalent in the US, why do you think the US is so far ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to blockchain employment?
Jobs posted on international job boards skew heavily toward the US and Europe, but China, India and other Asian companies are rapidly expanding their blockchain workforces as well.
Do you believe that Blockchain courses such as yours will become more commonplace in higher education moving forward?
Yes! We are seeing many more universities begin to offer courses around this technology. One of our partners, Simba Chain, which offers a low-code development tool, is currently working with 26 universities worldwide and is seeing demand for its services increase rapidly. Blockchain skills are in demand as companies are recognizing the potential it has to disrupt their industries.
In a Fortune article Fortune titled “Hiring for crypto and blockchain jobs is exploding” from January 13, 2022, data from LinkedIn released on Wednesday found that from 2020 to 2021, job postings with titles including “cryptocurrency,” “blockchain” and “Bitcoin,” and “Ethereum” have increased 395% year over year in the U.S. In comparison, tech industry job postings grew about 98%.
Do you anticipate education around crypto and blockchain will become part of general education? If yes, when and how do you see this happening?
Yes, this is what we believe. At the moment many business schools are offering stand-alone courses on Crypto, Distributed Finance (DeFi), or Blockchain/DLT fundamentals. The next phase will be to incorporate subjects into existing courses.
This is already happening at our own university. For example, a fintech course covers Decentralized Finance (DeFi), a supply chain course covers provenance and track and trace capabilities and an accounting course covers audit implications. Our digital marketing course will soon incorporate metaverse marketing concepts, and we envision many other courses at our university and others will rapidly incorporate these topics as businesses demand this knowledge.
Other disciplines outside of computer science including law, communications, art and architecture, and even archaeology are beginning to incorporate these topics.
It is clear that the technology around blockchain is here to stay, and will change many aspects of our lives in the future. On our way to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and other uses of the blockchain, the opportunities linked to its rise will continue to grow across industries.
