Not Enough Blockchain Talent to Go Around | Blocktribe.com
In today’s blog post, we revisit our concerns about blockchain and cryptocurrencies’ skills shortage and see how the situation has changed since we first blogged about it in October 2016 (read our previous blog post here).
Described by c as “the war on talent”, the blockchain skills shortage is real, people. Let’s face it, this niche field is growing rapidly, and if there isn’t a solution soon, it’s predicted to impact worldwide financial markets significantly. Accenture forecasts blockchain technology will cut costs by $20 billion by 2021 worldwide and with stats like that the current talent shortage needs to become a top priority if blockchain innovation is to ever achieve a paradigm shift in global banking and payments systems.
The biggest problem blockchain employer’s face at the moment is the limited knowledge and technical skills offered by talent in blockchain technology. This is despite over $1 billion dollars being invested in the industry from key industry players, such as Goldman Sachs and IBM. However, while the skill appears to be lacking, LinkedIn has noted a surge in blockchain-related job advertisements by threefold, increasing demand even further.
Let’s look at some stats.
Back in 2016, Mougayar, author of The Business Blockchain, estimated that about 5,000 developers worked in cryptocurrency, bitcoin or blockchain, and around 20,000 dabbled with the technology in some shape or form. But in comparison to the number of software developers in the world (approximately 18.5 million), blockchain developers are few in number, and thus, a possible impediment to the successes blockchain technology can do for the world of business.
The World Economic Forum predicts a revolution by 2027 with 10% of global GDP stored with blockchain technology. While some corporations have started blockchain labs in an effort to develop proof of concepts, working models, test cases, and production systems to position themselves for the near future, many are not equipped.
Realizing the Potential of Blockchain
A recent poll carried out by Synechron and Tabb Group found that 40 % of firms don’t have the talent to implement blockchain into their business. And this same survey determined that 6% would support training and 23% would reallocate resources to rectify this problem.
In short, now faced with this shortage, the blockchain community has been competing for the same limited talent and consequently, this has led to hiring wars and high salary demands, with some exceptional blockchain engineers commanding a salary above $250,000, according to IBM VP of Blockchain Technologies. Simply put, the demand for a highly skilled labour force is exceeding supply, and some quick and effective solutions are needed for wider deployment of blockchain technology.
Check out next week’s post for strategies on what you can do to close this skills gap.
Have an opinion on this? Let us know your thoughts @BlockchainTribe
