Silicon Valley has faced a string of firings, but according to Cointelegraph, crypto jobs are still growing fast.
“We have not seen a slowdown in crypto hiring. We are as busy as ever,” Neil Dundon, founder of Crypto Recruit, told Cointelegraph.
“Crypto hiring in the past has tended to slow right down when the Bitcoin price tumbles. It was almost directly correlated to its price,” added Dundon. “This time, it’s different, though, as crypto companies now manage their treasuries in a much more responsible manner. This all translates to a much more stable hiring market.”
Crypto jobs are already growing faster than tech jobs. Earlier this year, a LinkedIn study revealed a nearly 400% growth in jobs related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021. During that same timeframe, there was only a 98% growth in tech jobs.
The most-sought after roles in the crypto sector were engineers and blockchain developers, who both make an average of more than $100,000 annually.
The forecast continues to look bright for crypto, as more tech companies are also wading into the space, Dundon told Cointelegraph: “At a minimum, most forward-thinking tech companies are allocating some budget to look at how they might incorporate blockchain into their existing models. Not only are more companies venturing into this space but candidates are flocking over as traditional tech downsizes.”
That does not mean it’s looking great for all crypto companies, however. Earlier this week, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. — Coinbase — declared its hiring needed to hit pause, given that the first quarter saw $430 million worth of losses. The company said that it was planning to “slow hiring and reassess our headcount needs against our highest-priority business goals.”
Despite these trends, the job market for crypto is still accelerating, and many job seekers are still eyeing the industry as one ripe for continued growth.
“I’ve only heard of two companies letting people go,” Kevin Gibson, founder of Proof of Search, told Cointelegraph. “This may change in the next month, but any slack will immediately be taken up by well-funded quality projects. As a candidate, you won’t notice any difference. if you do lose your job, you will also have multiple offers pretty quickly.”
Compared to crypto jobs, tech industry workers have taken a beating. Recently, Robinhood fired approximately 9% of its staff, while Peloton said it would contract by 20% to save money, and Cameo, the celebrity video-appearance app, said it would layoff around 25% of its staff. Twitter, Uber, and Amazon also announced layoffs, while Facebook said it would institute a hiring freeze and reevaluate some recruitment practices.
Part of the slowdown has been attributed to pandemic-era growth and concerns that fresh funding may no longer be available amid declining public market valuations, spelling trouble ahead for tech companies’ ability to acquire fresh funding rounds.
