Is Web3 a Good Career in 2025? From A Recruiter’s Perspective

Is Web3 a good career today? Will the job market be any different in 2025 and beyond? What kind of skills and experience will stand the test of time in this industry? As a recruiter who works exclusively in the web3 and AI space, I want to offer some answers to these questions as well as provide some insider insights on how career prospects are looking for young professionals looking to break into web3.

Job Opportunities Grew 20% in 2024 Alone

It’s no secret that web3 and blockchain is currently one of the fastest growing industries around the world. According to numbers from Gate.io, the first half of 2024 saw a nearly 20% increase in global Web3 job postings compared to the same period the previous year. These numbers will only increase as blockchain technology becomes even more widely adopted in our daily lives.

As someone who’s been working in talent recruitment for years, I can’t stress this enough: You always want to be working in a rapidly growing industry, and avoid industries that are dying or shrinking. Growing industries promise an endless amount of jobs for the years to come, and the growing demand for talent will only drive salaries up. Future-proof industries like web3 and AI are just some of your best options today because they are here to stay for the long term. If you're convinced, you can jump to our how to find a job in crypto blog! If not, continue on, I'm sure you will be by the end of this.

Does Web3 Pay Well?

Yes. A lot better than most other industries, actually. People often ask us why web3 companies are willing to offer such high salaries. Well, there’s 2 simple reasons.

One, there’s so much capital invested into the industry right now that web3 companies and startups just have more budget than other companies to hire the talent that they want.

Two, Web3 is a very new industry. There’s simply not enough experienced workers within the industry to meet the constantly growing demand for workers from new companies and startups. These new companies are often willing to hire from outside the industry and pay the premium in order to attract top talent to their team.

Take our research on specific roles such as web3 developers or cryptographers as examples.

12% to 25% Higher Salaries

From our experience hiring hundreds of professionals for web3 companies, most candidates manage to negotiate a 12-25% base salary increase when they move from another industry to web3, depending on their qualifications, experience, and negotiation skills. It’s also not uncommon for talent with highly demanded skills (mainly in tech, finance, and marketing) to earn up to 30% more after a move. If you are unsure what skills and experience are in demand right now, check out our previous article on web3 career paths.

For talent who are moving from one web3 company to another, the percentage increase in salary is also fairly similar, meaning you’ll still have plenty of opportunities to earn more after you move into web3 and gain experience in different companies.

Fast Advancement for Young Talent

Unlike in traditional industries, most web3 companies are very new and don’t have management teams that've been there for 30+ years and block upward movement for their young talents. There’s also a lot of startups with small teams in web3, which makes upward mobility even greater because these companies are very open to moving their own talent up the ladder.

From a recruiter’s perspective, we often see very talented people struggle to move up in traditional industries simply because their managers or directors haven’t retired yet. Those who have in-demand skills and experience and adapt well into web3 tend to see their careers advance considerably faster, often taking on roles like team leads, and managers within 2 to 4 years. 

Work Remotely & Move Abroad

Web3 is growing worldwide, and jobs are no longer only available in the USA. As of 2024, the most active regions for web3 job postings are Asia, particularly in Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong, where the regulatory environment is more favorable for blockchain and Web3 companies. Europe is also one of the fastest growing markets for web3, and job opportunities in European countries are rising by the day. It’s also worth mentioning that all of these regions offer plenty of web3 jobs to English speakers, and many web3 teams in these regions use English as their main language.

If you are interested in working entirely remotely or traveling as a digital nomad, web3 is also a fantastic place to grow your career because many of these companies are open to hiring remote talent.

Is Blockchain Developer a Good Career?

Many of you reading this article come from a tech background and are wondering whether specializing in blockchain development is a good career move. If this is you, consider the following:

If You Already Have The Right Skills

The most in-demand skills in Web3 right now, without questions, is proficiency with Rust and Solidity, as well as knowledge and experience with Ethereum, Solana, and Polkadot blockchains. If you already feel pretty confident about more than one of these skills, chances are you will find a job as a web3 developer fairly quickly, and should be able to negotiate a pretty good salary for yourself. 

Check out Hyphen Connect’s web3 jobs board to see if anything suits you. If things go well, you could get yourself a nice salary raise or promotion by the end of the month.

If You Lack Rust, Solidity, or Blockchain Knowledge…

From our experience, there are still occasionally jobs available for C++ and Python developers, but Rust and Solidity are just so predominant that you can’t really go that far in the industry without them. I would recommend doing some research on these languages and assessing your own ability to learn. Take some time to decide whether it’s worth your time to learn these new languages, or if building on the blockchain really interests you.

Do You Have Better Career Options as A Dev?

While web3 does offer very good salaries in general for developers, the very top tier of talent could technically earn more by working in AI or other sectors for big tech. Our previous analysis on blockchain vs AI salaries, for example, shows that AI devs tend to earn more in today’s market, but a lot of it depends on whether you could get into a big enough company to pay you those high salaries. 

As for most devs who are just starting out or just a few years into their career, web3 is certainly one of the best options out there. The industry is only growing faster as blockchain applications become more widespread, and some of the skills that you develop, particularly proficiency with Rust, will become valuable assets in your career because they are in high demand everywhere, even in industries outside of web3.

Your Location Matters

Web3-related businesses tend to flock around traditional tech and finance cities. This means that most web3 developer jobs will likely be based in San Francisco and New York in the US, or Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai in Asia. While most web3 companies have remote developers on their team, being able to attend work in person will certainly give you a slight advantage over a candidate who is exclusively remote. If you already live in one of the top web3 cities in the world, this gives you an even stronger incentive to join the industry than the others.

Conclusion: Will Web3 be a Good Career in 2025 and beyond?

The web3 job market has grown significantly in 2024, and we have every reason to expect the same in 2025 and the next few years. From my perspective as a recruiter who focuses exclusively in the web3 and AI space, there’s really no better time to make your move into these industries than right now. The emergence of so many new companies and the high demand for talents of all sorts (tech, finance, marketing, stc.) just makes it so easy for young professionals to negotiate a good salary and quickly advance their careers. If you are serious about starting your web3 career, be sure to check out Hyphen Connect’s web3 jobs board for opportunities and our other career tips for web3.

About Hyphen Connect

Hyphen Connect is a recruitment and staffing consultant focused on helping AI and web3 businesses find the best talent and build the best team. When we are not too busy helping companies hunt down the world’s best talents, we love to share tips on recruitment, staffing, and career advancement.