BENGALURU: From 1,100 active job openings in Indian crypto start-ups space in October 2021, the number has dropped to just 200 openings in October 2022. Overall, over 12,500 active job openings are available in the Web3, blockchain, crypto and crypto-linked domains in India. However, this is 26% less compared to 17,000 job openings in July 2022, shows a report by staffing firm Xpheno.
After an interim rise in talent demand and hiring action, Web3 and crypto jobs have rolled back to nearly the same level in October 2021 -- 12,000 openings. Experts say crypto market is undergoing a critical correction period. Bitcoin has been steadily falling and on Tuesday, it was trading below $19,500. When asked about reduction in job opportunities in crypto space, Alankar Saxena, CTO and co-founder, Mudrex, said this kind of bear market is common across all financial markets.
“The hiring has decreased compared to the hiring cycle observed at the beginning of the year. It is an anticipated and expected drop. There was a flurry of new start-ups hiring for many new roles at the height of the bull run. However, companies focusing on building efficient products have continued to grow their sphere,” he added.
Bengaluru remains the hotspot for blockchain and crypto jobs as there are 3,000 job openings in the city as against 1,800 in the year-ago period, the report showed. Hyderabad and Chennai too have openings of 1,800 and 1,400, respectively. From only 500 openings in October 2021, Delhi has 1,300 openings as of October 2022. As Web3, crypto and blockchain ventures have a longer horizon for maturity, their investment on specialist talent is in line with their long-term plans, said Anil Ethanur, co-founder, Xpheno.
“As the market has cooled down after a hyper-hiring phase, these ventures have slowed down their funnels to be in tune with their funding flows,” he added. IT Services & Business Process Management sector remains the largest consumer of blockchain and crypto talent with 64% of the current openings.
As far as package is concerned, average salary for the niche and specialist skills have remained in line with the previous quarter. A blockchain specialist (SME-Developer, Architect) with 2-5 years experience takes home anywhere between `13-32 lakh per annum in Tier 1 institutes.