Job openings are shrinking like a funnel, while job seekers are flooding in like a tide.

Written by: Ada & Liam, Deep Tide TechFlow

Cryptocurrency prices soar, job hunting freezes.

As Bitcoin breaks through $110,000 and Ethereum hits a new all-time high, the community shouts, "The bull market is here"; yet, the recruitment market tells a different story.

"10,000 people are vying for 28 positions," the media's headline may seem exaggerated, but it reflects the true state of job hunting in Web3. Companies are laying off employees, job openings are drastically reduced, and job applications are filling inboxes.

In social circles, Web3 headhunter Nancy can't help but lament: "This year's recruitment requirements are getting higher and higher, not only requiring educational background and English proficiency but also vertical project experience."

Behind the surface prosperity lies a contracting, picky, and brutal Web3 job market. The bull market effect in the crypto market and the industry's "breaking the circle" have drawn countless young people and Web2 transferees in, but they quickly realize: there aren't as many positions as they imagined, and salaries aren't as high as they thought.

Why the "bull market clamor, job market winter"?

When the myth of high salaries and survivor bias entices newcomers, how many can truly stand firm in this seemingly bustling yet turbulent Web3 job market?

Soaring cryptocurrency prices, a cold job market

The Web3 recruitment market is often the most accurate barometer of the industry.

Bitcoin has surpassed $110,000, Ethereum has reached new highs, and the media is filled with the sound of "the bull market is here," but the truth in the job market is starkly different.

Antoniayly, founder of the Web3 recruitment community abetterweb3, clearly perceives this contrast: "The job market has been deteriorating for a long time, with the number of job seekers continuously increasing while job openings are on the decline."

In the past, abetterweb3 primarily published job listings, but now it has become more of a "job seeker information wall." For example, from August 22 to 27, there were only 14 new job postings, while job seeker information reached as many as 24.

The numbers behind this reveal a harsh reality: companies are undergoing large-scale "downsizing." Even Lido, a staking protocol riding the Ethereum wave, has ruthlessly cut 15% of its staff, and the once-prominent metaverse leader Sandbox has laid off 50%.

The primary market remains bleak, with many once-thriving crypto VCs either shutting down or choosing to lie flat. Without external VC funding, many projects that relied on financing have quietly closed down or turned to the AI sector for survival.

The job market is "overcrowded with seekers and scarce in offerings": job openings are shrinking like a funnel, while job seekers are flooding in like a tide.

Under this severe imbalance of supply and demand, companies have become exceptionally picky when hiring.

"Since last year, many clients have raised their requirements when hiring, not only wanting candidates with backgrounds from major internet companies but also recent experience in well-known Web3 projects or exchanges."

James, founder of the Web3 headhunting company Talentverse, said, "There are also requirements regarding job content; if it involves smart contracts, token economics, or on-chain interactions, relevant work experience is needed."

However, even if candidates meet these hard requirements, they may not pass the interview.

"I've seen too many candidates with backgrounds from major companies who have strong technical skills but only a superficial understanding of Web3." Yulia, a headhunter focused on overseas markets, shared a case, "A P8 from a major company came for an interview, and when asked 'how to design a DEX resistant to MEV,' he was stunned for a full 30 seconds."

Hard skills are just the entry ticket; what recruiters value are some seemingly more "metaphysical" qualities.

"Positive attitude, passion for the industry, strong curiosity, quick learning ability, self-motivation, independent thinking ability, and stress resistance…" James listed seven or eight requirements in one breath, "These may seem vague, but they are the underlying logic for screening candidates when backgrounds are similar."

The requirements for overseas teams are even stricter. Yulia revealed that her clients (mainly from Europe and the US) not only require fluency in English but also a "sense of cultural identity." "They will discuss meme culture and the spirit of crypto punks during the interview; if you can't grasp these points, you're basically out of the running."

Behind the reduction in recruitment demand is a large-scale decline of startups.

Antoniayly has a deep understanding of this, "Around 2021, there were continuous hiring opportunities across various crypto companies from infrastructure to applications, wallets, DeFi, social, etc. Now, only exchanges, major public chains, and large DeFi applications are still hiring; it seems that all the small and micro enterprises in the industry have vanished."

In terms of recruitment trends, exchanges have also changed their strategies. In addition to traditional technical and product positions, an increasing number of operational roles now require Web2 growth experience. Amid the growth competition, candidates who can navigate Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and private domain traffic are becoming the new favorites.

But the most surprising issue is age.

"This cycle has actually relaxed age restrictions compared to the previous one." James's observation has overturned many people's perceptions. In today's internet industry, where one has to worry about being "optimized" at 35, Web3 has opened its doors to some middle-aged individuals.

The reason is very practical; as the integration with traditional finance deepens, Web3 needs not only young people who can code but also seasoned professionals who understand finance, have connections, and can handle regulations.

"Web3 is transitioning from a wild era to professionalization." James summarized, "In the past, courage was enough to strike gold; now, what is needed is a combination of professional skills, industry knowledge, and resource integration."

Expectation misalignment

Is Web3 short of talent?

"Yes, and no." This answer has reached a consensus among respondents.

This seemingly contradictory phenomenon reveals the structural issues in the Web3 talent market: on one side, a large number of job seekers are submitting resumes, while on the other, exchanges and project teams still can't find suitable candidates.

Headhunter Nancy, based in Singapore, primarily serves top exchanges. In her observation, operational roles are a typical example of "false prosperity."

"Every time an operational position is posted, the resumes can flood the inbox." Nancy said with a wry smile, "But those who truly meet the requirements may be less than 1%."

Where is the problem?

"Many people think that operations just involve tweeting and organizing events." Nancy explained, "But exchanges need experts in vertical fields. For example, in contract operations, you need to understand contract mechanisms, risk control logic, and market maker thinking; for community operations, you need to understand DAO governance, token economics, and incentive mechanism design."

A real case is that a certain exchange is hiring for "DeFi Product Operations," requiring candidates to independently design liquidity mining schemes. However, out of the hundreds of resumes received, fewer than 10 truly understand impermanent loss.

"Most people are applying for Web3 positions with a Web2 mindset." Nancy summarized, "They see the word operations and apply without considering whether it's content operations, user operations, or product operations. This broad-net strategy doesn't work in Web3."

The most subtle mismatch in crypto job hunting occurs between expectations and market realities.

Evan has several clients from Web3 project teams whose founding teams come from top investment banks or exchanges, making their teams very elite and their talent requirements high, with very few candidates truly meeting the criteria.

"I searched the market for three months and interviewed over 50 people, but not one fully matched." Evan said helplessly, "In the end, I could only suggest that the client adjust their expectations, either train a product manager to learn Web3 or find a Web3 product manager to supplement vertical knowledge."

This is the "mismatch between ideals and reality," which is common in Web3 startups. They hope to hire composite talents from major companies and Web3 with startup salaries, but the result is often a futile effort.

"Many founders live in their own world." A seasoned headhunter complained, "They think their project is the next Uniswap, so excellent talents should lower their salaries to join for the dream. But the reality is that excellent talents have too many choices."

For job seekers, they also have to experience the "salary expectation gap." In the eyes of outsiders, Web3 seems to be a land of gold, but salaries are not necessarily as high as imagined.

Especially for those who previously worked in traditional finance PE/VC or major internet companies, joining a Web3 major company may even result in a pay cut. Their reasons for entering Web3 are simple: Web2 has peaked, the crypto industry is freer, and they also seek the opportunity for financial freedom through investment.

"Survivor bias has led to too many myths of overnight wealth in the crypto circle, making many people flock to it, thinking I can do it too," a HR person lamented.

Workplace unspoken rules

In the Web3 job market, there is an unwritten "hierarchy of disdain": technology > product > others.

The most direct manifestation of this hierarchy is the salary gap.

"For the same P7 level, the package for technical positions may be 2-3 times that of operational positions." Nancy stated bluntly, "Moreover, technical positions also have token incentives, while operational positions generally do not."

Even more brutally, the substitutability of non-technical positions is extremely high. "We've seen too many cases where non-technical positions are eliminated in the short term if they don't meet requirements or have high output." Evan said, "But in technical positions, there will be a career ladder available for improvement."

Why is this the case?

"Web3 is essentially a technology-driven industry." Evan stated, "No matter how well your market is doing, if the product is poor, users won't buy it. But if the product is innovative, even with little promotion, people will come to use it."

This "product is king" logic is particularly evident in DeFi: Uniswap has almost no marketing team but has secured the top position in DEX with its revolutionary AMM mechanism.

According to statistics from web3.career, among non-technical positions, product managers have the highest salaries, followed by legal, finance, HR, design, sales, project managers, marketing, social media operations, community managers, etc.

Of course, there are exceptions.

"If you are the kind of BD who can bring in real business, your status is not inferior to that of technical roles." Nancy added, "For example, a BD who can secure listings on major exchanges can easily earn over a million a year. But such people may not exceed 50 across the entire industry."

However, for newcomers, the crypto industry is not friendly.

"Only screening, not training; training a novice is too costly, and there's no patience for it," a project founder stated decisively.

If industry knowledge is the explicit threshold for Web3, then "circle recognition" is the implicit threshold.

"Web3 is an industry that relies heavily on trust." James's statement reveals the essence of the problem. In an industry filled with rug pulls and scams, "referrals from acquaintances" often carry more weight than resumes.

One unspoken rule in the crypto industry is: many positions are never publicly advertised.

"A significant portion of the exchanges I interact with fill positions through internal referrals," Nancy revealed. "Public recruitment takes too much time, and it's hard to judge whether candidates truly understand the field. But if they are recommended by core contributors, it's usually a safe bet."

Thus, an interesting phenomenon often occurs in the industry: an employee from a certain exchange or project publicly criticizes a competitor, only to jump ship to that competitor shortly after; a well-known figure in the industry moves to a certain exchange or institution as an executive, gradually replacing their subordinates with former colleagues, as they believe that their old buddies are more trustworthy and easier to work with.

This "circle culture" is equally evident in overseas projects. One overseas Layer 2 project had a recruitment requirement stating that candidates must have participated in ETHDenver or Devcon.

However, the circle culture also brings negative effects. "It's always the same people coming and going, recommending each other and supporting one another. Newcomers find it too difficult to get in," Nancy said.

Searching for Certainty in Uncertainty

Seeing so many people flocking to Web3, is there a temptation to join?

Don't rush; first, let's look at a failed case.

Evan once encountered a candidate: a graduate from a top 985 university who had worked as a technical lead at a major internet company.

In pursuit of more possibilities, he turned to a Web3 startup team. But a year later, the project failed to deliver results, and with unsuccessful funding, the company dissolved, leaving him unemployed. After that, he tried interviewing with other projects, but due to the sudden drop in popularity of his original sector, his experience could not be transferred, and he ultimately faced long-term job hunting with no success, relying on gig work to make ends meet.

"Most people only see the stories of survivor bias, but cases like the one above happen almost every day," Evan pointed out.

"In a bull market, there's a desperate need for talent; in a bear market, the doors are wide open. A project might fail in just a few months, and a sector that was hot in the last cycle might be completely cold in the next."

Failed funding, plummeting cryptocurrency prices, regulatory constraints, hacking attacks… any one of these factors could lead to a project's exit.

"Web3 is a high-risk industry; if you want stability, you don't need to come here," James summarized very calmly.

However, even so, some are still willing to take the risk. Is there a relatively safer path?

Nancy offered advice: "If you have a good background, you can first gain experience at a major internet company, but don't stay for more than three years before transitioning to an exchange. They are at the top of the Web3 ecosystem and are relatively stable."

Of course, there are also those who come with passion and ideals, willing to join startup teams to do things that can change the world. Yulia mentioned a candidate who originally worked as an algorithm engineer at a medium-sized financial company, lacking native Web3 experience, but through self-motivation and long-term technical accumulation on GitHub, not only successfully joined a star project but also grew to become the head of the department years later.

"The Web3 talent market is like cryptocurrency, full of volatility," James said, "but in the long run, truly valuable talent, like Bitcoin, will always be recognized by the market."

For those still on the sidelines, Yulia's advice is more practical: "Don't get caught up in whether to go all in; instead, take the first step. Learn a smart contract language, participate in a DAO, experience DeFi once… only by truly engaging can you determine if this is your opportunity."

When we asked respondents about potential hotspots for talent competition in the future, the answers were remarkably consistent:

The combination of AI and Web3, the integration of traditional finance and on-chain assets, and infrastructure aimed at trading.

This may very well be the next direction for talent influx and the next hotbed for Web3.

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