Switzerland’s strong reputation as bankers,
chocolatiers and watchmakers didn’t come about by chance. Their dominance in
these markets is a result of a focus on exceptional service and high value
products which has earnt them the second
highest GDP per capita worldwide. Emerging industries such as blockchain
are benefiting from Switzerland’s prominence in the global marketplace and are gaining
noticeable momentum. This reputation has enabled the nation’s Crypto Valley to establish
itself as blockchain
hotspot, attracting 100 new businesses in 2019 and creating over 1,000
jobs. Here are four reasons why the Swiss job market is banking on blockchain.
Blockchain
is the answer to our security issues
Bitcoin made its entrance in 2008 and
questions began flying as to whether the digital currency could be trusted.
Enter blockchain, which provided the security to users by recording chains of
information about the transaction - but now fast forward to the year 2020 and a
new security issue has emerged. Covid-19 has exposed a growing
threat to data security, and yet again blockchain technology has stepped up
to the mark and exposed a growing demand for blockchain developers and site
reliability engineers among other IT professionals. This illustrates how the
technology will help protect the global economy and may even be used to prevent
crises in the future.
A
growing digital token market
In 2017, a surge in initial coin offerings
(ICOs) led to the hub of token-funded projects in Zug being named Switzerland’s
Crypto Valley. An ICO is the most effective way for start-ups to generate
investments and for this reason they’re commonly thought of as a source of
crowdfunding.
While fintech start-ups and other new
businesses rely on this method for raising capital, the smart contracts rely on
blockchain technology to provide the digital tokens.
Despite the amount of published ICOs
flattening after the peak in 2017, there remains a steady number of launches
each year and Switzerland just misses out on a medal in the worldwide rankings
for capital raised from ICOs, coming in fourth place with an impressive total of $2
billion. Technology professionals can expect their blockchain skills to
remain in high demand as Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) and Security Token
Offerings (STOs) steal a share of the digital token market.
A
government who is backing blockchain
Switzerland’s National Council have held
back from applying tax laws to digital tokens which is cause for celebration
for the cryptocurrency market and in turn for blockchain technology. While the
market remains in its infancy, the government will not apply capital gains tax
legislation on any earnings and in doing so hopes to encourage more
investments. Though this exemption can’t be expected to continue well into the
future, it gives ample time for blockchain to put down roots in Swiss soil and
establish a strong job market.
In addition, the National Council have
announced a legislative
package, passing several new laws that are designed to eliminate the legal obstacles
that apply to blockchain and distributed ledger technology. This will attract
more blockchain start-ups to Switzerland, and professionals with expertise in
this field will reap the benefits as the nation asserts its dominance in the
global blockchain market.
Working
remotely
Shortly after the turn of the decade,
workplaces around the world had to solve the puzzle of continuing business
operations whilst observing social distancing. Thankfully, for companies in the
blockchain space, working out the logistics was far easier compared to other
industries and moving their teams online has revealed some added benefits such
as increased productivity. Now the challenge lies with product managers,
technical business analysts and their IT colleagues to master the art of maximising
productivity when working from home.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus, Blockchain
has proved itself to be an essential and resilient industry, and the Swiss job
market’s confidence in the technology will continue to grow as our world
continues on the path to digitalisation.
Apply
for a role with Swisslinx today
Are you banking on blockchain? Our
consultants at Swisslinx understand the importance of keeping a keen eye on
technology drivers and trends such as blockchain. This deep understanding of
the industry enables them to identify the top talent and place these candidates
in organisations at every point of the scale – from boutique start-ups to
global corporations. View our vacancies in financial services
or explore our digital
and technology jobs to start your application.
