Blockchain is one of the hottest trending topics in the world. However, it’s not easy to find people with adequate skill set to match the growing demand for the technology. Several reports confirm that in 2017, blockchain professionals are a rare gem that everyone is looking for. According to Upwork’s Skills Index, which rates the fastest growing skills that freelancers add to their skill set inventory, blockchain and Bitcoin ranked second and third respectively. Blockchain industry is a new market with completely new requirements in terms of adequate skills to match the growing demand for the technology. This is one of the challenges that blockchain businesses have to overcome definitely. The following are some of the reasons why it’s hard to find talent in blockchain.

The increasing demand for blockchain talent             

Sounds obvious, but it’s one of the major reasons blockchain-based enterprises cannot find adequate talent for their operations. According to a report by Bitcoin Magazine, blockchain-related job posts on LinkedIn tripled and the demand keeps growing rapidly. Connected to the short supply of talent is the increase in the earnings of the few professionals available. The cadre of professionals in demand here includes smart contract developers, blockchain developers, and cryptocurrency engineers.

Blockchain programmers are not after employment

Research reveals that blockchain programmers are not so much into job search. For example, on December 31, 2017, Blockchain Developers Inc. had almost four thousand open positions for blockchain-related jobs including blockchain developers and engineers. Surprisingly, blockchain programmers are too busy to look for jobs. This implies that recruiting blockchain professionals by going the traditional way many times don’t work.

Most blockchain developers have their own projects/companies

Top blockchain programmers have their own projects and companies to work on. This enables them to follow their own dreams better. According to a renowned blockchain investor and speaker Zach Piester, “Quite a few are likely running their own startups. Therefore, they won’t want to drop all their ongoing projects to come work for your company.” Another blockchain programmer and instructor, Jimmy Song, concurs: “Everyone wants ninja engineers who can pull a rabbit out of a hat, but they are unicorns. The ones I know are either founders, co-founders, CTO’s or in some senior engineering role being paid a ransom.” With these statements from the experts in mind, we can agree that finding adequate blockchain talent is, indeed, a challenge.

Blockchain programmers don’t go to LinkedIn

While LinkedIn works wonders for various HR departments and professional recruiters, surprisingly, blockchain developers are unconventional. Such professionals are particularly focused on transforming the world and have little or no time to groom their LinkedInprofiles. As Piester puts in it, “You won’t find the great candidates through LinkedIn and Google.”

Geographical locations

Another factor that limits the availability of blockchain programmers is their geographical locations. According to Upwork and Guru Platforms, most blockchain specialists come from countries such as Ukraine, Pakistan, Russia, China, Japan, and Poland. Overall, no country can claim a significant share of blockchain professionals to give it an advantage over the others. Finding blockchain talent can be as hard as it is, but things are changing. As technology rolls out to all regions of the world, it is possible that soon there will be more learning institutions and organizations to equip professionals with the right skills for the industry.