Demand for Crypto Experts in India Hikes Remuneration, Vacancies Spike

A deficit in crypto talent is pushing salaries up in Indian companies engaged with the domestic and global blockchain industry, local media reported quoting data from recent studies. Demand for professionals in the field has been growing rapidly in the past year.

Indian IT companies providing services to global clients, fintech startups, and consulting firms have been competing for specialists with experience in crypto technologies, resulting in what the Economic Times describes as a war of wages. A report by the business daily indicates that demand for this type of talent has increased significantly over the last months.

The number of active job openings this month, the newspaper wrote on Wednesday, stands at over 12,000 which represents a 50% increase since last year. The quoted numbers come from the latest report by staffing services company Xpheno.

The relatively young age of cryptocurrency technology, just over a decade old, is arguably the main reason behind the gap between the limited number of experts in the space and the available vacancies. The deficit of talent is exerting upward pressure on remuneration in the sector.

Salaries can reach up to 80 lakh Indian rupees annually, more than $106,000 at the time of writing, for specialists with eight to ten years of experience, the article notes. Commenting on the findings, Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth stated:

Despite the 12-year life of the crypto domain, its mainstream visibility and talent-related attention is under a decade.

Another report, prepared by the Indian tech industry association Nasscom and cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx, reveals that the country’s crypto-tech industry employs around 50,000 professionals. Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president at Nasscom, told the Economic Times that the organization expects 30% more jobs to be created in the next months, if the sector maintains its current growth rate.

Companies in the industry are most often looking to hire people with blockchain, machine learning, security solutions, Ripplex solutions, data analysis, and front and back-end skills. According to Xpheno, there is a 30 to 60% shortage of talent supply in these high-demand skill sets.

However, for some niche skills in crypto, cybersecurity, data science, and other areas, the gap has already reached 50 to 70%. Kamal Karanth predicted that the competition for talent and the ongoing war of wages will continue for the next two years.

Do you think India will be able to train enough talent in the next two years to bridge the gap between the vacancies and the number of qualified candidates? Let us know in the comments section below.