2023 Web3 Recruitment Market Trends: Asia Surpasses Europe, OKX Hires More Than Binance
This article will analyze global Web3 recruitment trends to provide an overall insight into the Web3 market.Original Title: Global Web3 Job Postings Analysis
Original Authors: JAY JO AND YOON LEE
Original Compilation: 深潮 TechFlow
Recently, Tiger Research released statistics on global Web3 job market trends for 2023, exploring the employment market in the Web3 field and analyzing various related trends and opportunities, providing valuable information and insights for job seekers and companies interested in the Web3 industry. 深潮 has compiled the full text.
Summary
The global Web3 job market in 2023 has seen a significant decline compared to 2021/2022. The pressure from the U.S. SEC on cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly its impact on Binance, has had a major effect on job postings.
Regionally, North America remains a strong influence, while Asia has surpassed Europe to rise to third place. This is mainly due to the increase in job postings related to centralized exchanges (CEX) in Singapore and Hong Kong. With the continued growth of the Asian market, this gap is expected to widen further.
In terms of industry, CEX has the highest number of job postings, accounting for up to 30% of monthly shares. This indicates that it remains the most mature business model in the Web3 market.
2023 Global Web3 Market Job Trends
A company's job postings are an indicator of the implementation of its strategic plans and specific industry demands, which can be used to predict future market activity. In this article, we will analyze global Web3 job trends to provide an overall insight into the Web3 market.
The job market for global Web3 in 2023 is still less than half of the boom period in 2021/2022. This is because the market has not fully recovered and faces severe regulations, especially in the U.S. and Europe. However, the number of job postings showed an upward trend in the first half of 2023, indicating that the market is recovering.
Since June 2023, the number of job postings has decreased by 50%, likely due to the U.S. SEC suing Binance, Coinbase, and others, leading the entire Web3 market to face headwinds. Additionally, direct regulations on Binance in Europe and other regions have led to the restructuring and reduction of hiring at the exchange with the highest number of job postings (Binance). Binance reported 288 new positions in May 2023, but only 27 in the following June, a nearly 90% drop. With cryptocurrency exchanges accounting for 30% of the overall Web3 market job postings, their decline may directly impact the overall Web3 job trends.
Subsequently, the overall trend remained stable in the second half of 2023. However, with the surge in cryptocurrency trading volumes and the anticipation of Bitcoin ETF approvals, job postings in the Web3 market are expected to increase in 2024. With expectations of market recovery, Web3 companies are expected to actively develop their businesses and recruit talent again. 2024 is expected to bring more challenges and innovative opportunities than 2023.
2023 Regional Web3 Market Job Trends (Monthly Accumulation)
In the 2023 Web3 market, the job trends by region are ranked as follows:
North America
Remote Work
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Latin America
Africa
North America remains a highly influential market, accounting for 40% of all global job postings. Notably, job activity in Asia has surpassed that in Europe. Asia accounts for about 20% of all job postings, while Europe accounts for about 15%, showing a significant difference. As the global Web3 market increasingly focuses on Asia, we expect the gap between these two regions to widen over time.
2023 Asia Web3 Market Job Trends by Industry
In the 2023 Asia-Pacific Web3 job trends, we see the highest number of job postings in Singapore, Hong Kong, India, and Australia. Particularly, Singapore, as a financial hub in Asia, has a strong presence in the Web3 market, thanks to its business-friendly environment. This year, Singapore has strengthened regulations to reduce risks in the Web3 ecosystem, but due to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's development and nurturing of Web3 technology, along with relatively clear regulations, some uncertainties in the market have been addressed, leading to a surge of Web3 companies entering the market.
Hong Kong is the second-largest market in Asia for job postings, accounting for about 20% of all positions. The opening of the cryptocurrency market in Hong Kong in June 2023 may have initiated active hiring. India accounts for about 13% of all job postings in Asia. The country has the third-largest Web3 talent pool in the world, attracting many global companies. However, due to the lack of an institutional framework for cryptocurrencies, including high taxes on cryptocurrencies, hiring in the Indian market has not exploded. Instead, it is speculated that Indian tech talent has left the country for the global market. Finally, with the recovery of its fintech industry, Australia is developing various financial solution companies, and Web3 companies related to financial infrastructure are actively hiring.
The presence of South Korea and Japan in the Asian market remains limited. This can be attributed to these countries' tendency to prioritize hiring domestic talent, as they are familiar with the local business culture. Therefore, hiring is more likely to occur through local recruitment platforms rather than global ones, which may explain the limited number of job postings in Japan and South Korea.
2023 Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchange Job Rankings
The rankings for job postings at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in 2023 are:
OKX
Binance
Crypto.com
Gemini
Kraken
OKX is the third-largest spot exchange globally and has been the most active exchange in hiring until recently, as it aims to compete with Binance and Upbit. OKX's expansion in Asia is particularly noteworthy, covering markets including Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Overall, due to sanctions from multiple regulatory agencies, including the U.S. SEC, cryptocurrency exchanges are expected to slow down in 2023. However, cryptocurrency exchanges are still viewed as the most mature business model in the Web3 market, and hiring activities are expected to continue. Additionally, Binance's position as a global leader is beginning to waver. Various cryptocurrency exchanges, including local exchanges, are expected to emerge and compete for market share.
Positive Trends in Web3 Infrastructure Company Hiring
The next most active hiring category is "Infrastructure." Contrary to expectations for the Asian Web3 market, hiring is still primarily concentrated in North America and Europe. However, the shift of hiring towards Asia is also significant. Companies like Solana, Ripple, Avalanche, and Arbitrum have been hiring in Asia in 2023. As these companies face more business opportunities in the region, more hiring is expected to occur. Notably, Polygon has been hiring on a large scale in Asia after collaborating with several Asian companies.
Other Notable Web3 Hiring Trends
There are also other interesting Web3 hiring trends in 2023. Firstly, opportunities in the Vietnamese market are on the rise. Previously a leading P2E market, Vietnam has maintained low levels of hiring since the boom in 2021. However, global Web3 projects in Vietnam, such as Kyber Network and Sky Mavis, have recently started hiring and are preparing for a resurgence in 2024.
Stablecoin issuers have also been actively hiring in 2023. Both Circle and Paxos have seen a surge in hiring, increasing fourfold and ninefold compared to last year, respectively. This aligns with the aggressive issuance of stablecoins by these two companies in recent years, striving to establish a strong position in the global market.
Circle has begun to expand its hiring scope in Asia. Following its collaboration with Grab in Singapore, Circle is now expanding to Hong Kong and Taiwan. This aligns with the opening of the cryptocurrency market in the region, which is expected to be highly liquid and active. The company has also identified numerous business opportunities in the region, with many jurisdictions already establishing or developing stablecoin regulatory frameworks.
