Headhunting in the blockchain biz

It’s an important query as not everyone is setting out to become a crypto miner. There are millions of individuals who are now looking at cryptocurrency and blockchain and trying to understand where they fit in, in terms of the value chain.

A few statistics might shed some light on the prospects of employment in this newfangled sector of technology. According to data collated from employment portals, blockchain is one of the fields that is witnessing the fastest-growing demand vis-a-vis skill sets. Job sites have seen as much as a 2,000 to 6,000 per cent growth when it comes to opportunities in the sector. Over 10,000 active employment opportunities are available in the cryptocurrency space in India, as per data from the specialist staffing firm Xpheno.

Global tech giants including the likes of JP Morgan, IBM, Microsoft and Intel are already recruiting blockchain developers in huge numbers.

Even back home, companies such as Reliance Infocomm, Bajaj Electricals, Mahindra Group and Yes Bank have integrated blockchain based technologies in their processes. The net impact on the industry is also quite significant with a projected contribution of $62.2 billion in 2030.

This area of technology is slated to affect major lines of businesses, and projected contribution will be to the tune $41 bn in supply chain, $13.2 bn in securitisation and payments and $5 bn in identity protection applications.

Mudia Chauhan, who heads HR at CoinDCX, India’s first crypto unicorn, in a recent interview said that it is hiring people in the tech space who can strengthen its product, enhance security and build platforms.

“The skills which we focus on are Node. js, cyber security, blockchain, AWS, Java, PHP, Python and data structures.”

As per a PwC report, 56 per cent of Indian businesses are inclined to make this technology a part of their core business process in near future.

So demand for those designing blockchain platforms or applications will be in huge demand. Interestingly, the demand for blockchain-related jobs is greater in south, with Bengaluru, the IT hub, garnering a demand of 36 per cent as per Indeed’s Data. Incidentally, Mumbai, Gurugram and Bengaluru collectively account for 60 per cent of the job opportunities in the cryptocurrency space.

The paycheques pertaining to opportunities in the space are also quite lucrative. A front-end developer with an experience ranging between two to five years can bag as much as Rs 30 lakh per annum, while an engineer with eight plus years of work experience can expect a pay package of Rs 50 lakh per annum. The top of the crypto pyramid is occupied by blockchain specialists with 12 years plus experience who can draw a cool Rs 75 lakh every year.

For those looking to beef up their CV with say an Ethereum Blockchain credential, the state-run Kerala Blockchain Academy offers free courses.

An initiative of the Kerala Government under the Indian Institute of Information and Technology and Management – Kerala, it offers blockchain training in multiple domains. Chennai is also seeing a spurt in hiring activity in blockchain tech. CoinFantasy, Netobjex, doodleblue Innovations, Future Trends, ANI Calls, CodeMind Staffing Solutions, CRUX Consulting Services are among those firms based in the city scouting for talent in the crypto space.