For some weird reason, I feel like I should explain my thought process as an introduction for this article before jumping right into it:

I initially wanted to write this piece from an African Perspective (that was actually the initial title).

On second thought, I realized there was little or nothing I could say from an African perspective that would make sense.

Yes! I'm African, but I'm a Nigerian first. I wouldn't be African if I wasn't a Nigerian (if that makes sense).

Africa is vast, and in relation to this topic that's been on my mind for a while, I might not have a true picture of what goes on in other countries without doing interviews or what not. But I sure know at least 75% - 80% of what's happening in my country, Nigeria.

Now that's sorted, let's hit the ground running.

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I've been wanting to write a piece on how concentrated I think the Nigerian Web3 Labor market is for a long while now.

Maybe, I should begin with some explanations. Follow me!

First, let's get something straight- there's job market concentration, and there's labor market concentration. They seem different, but they have the same underlying explanation.

For the former, there's concentration of hiring within an industry or an occupation. A typical example as it relates to Web3 & Nigeria would be when only few cryptocurrency companies dominate hiring for community moderators in Nigeria. This would be an example of job market concentration within the Web3 industry. To make it clearer, it's a case where there are fewer companies offering jobs and more moderators available to take up the limited jobs.

As regards the latter, there's concentration of hiring in all occupations and industries within Nigeria (the case study). For example, if only a few companies dominate hiring across all Web3 occupations in Nigeria, this would be an example of labor market concentration in Nigeria. To make it clearer, it's a case where regardless of your skill set or role you play, there are fewer companies willing to hire you.

The concentration of the labor/job market results in increased competition, limited job opportunities, psychological issues, limited purchasing power, lower wages, inequality, increase in vices, and a whole lot of other negative consequences. Seeing as job market concentration and labor market concentration have the same underlying context, it would be used interchangeably in this article.

Now, let's take a look at some historical trends in the Nigerian Web3 job market.

Nigerian Web3 Job Market During The Bull Season

Personally, I didn't join the Web3 craze during the precious bull season (😩). I became more active a few weeks before everything started going down the drain- the annoying bear season (😡).

The bull season in 2020-2021 pushed for more flow of workers into the Nigeria Web3 job market. In this time, the surge for Web3 workers was insane. There was an abnormal flow of companies coming in to seek for talents and willing to pay insane salaries to keep their top talent. For example, a report by Stack Overflow showed that the number of Web3 developers in Nigeria rose by 150%, compared to the global rate of 100% in 2021. There was also a salary increase by 200% in the same year for Web3 developers in Nigeria.

So, I'd say there were less workers in comparison with the number of companies seeking talents looking at the salary rate. In addition, only few people were aware that asides from trading, & airdrops, jobs could also be a means to earn income in the Web3 space back then.

Thus, there was more money flow, and very few people interested in working an extra job. I mean, when I could put in $20 in a project and get $500-$1K or more from trading, why get a job in addition to my 9-5?

Let's take a look at how the bear season humbled a lot of people (me included) in the next section.

Nigerian Web3 Job Market During The Bear Season/Now

With the Bear Season and the inflation in the country, a lot more people are getting drawn into awareness of Web3 jobs. The era of using $20 to get $500-$1K or more from trading is now seemingly a thing of the past.

Furthermore, there's an increased adoption of cryptocurrencies and Web3 generally due to more Web3 education, events, and training resources (which is a good thing). However, more people into the Web3 space has created a ripple effect of labor market concentration. This has brought about lower wages, increased competition, wide gap of job-worker ratio, etc.

I heard a friend tell her sister during her sign out from University-"thank God you're done with school now, time to focus on Web3 and get jobs." I found it funny because this same friend of mine had been seeking jobs for sometime now, and was yet to secure any. Yet, she was assuring her sister about getting jobs and supposedly focusing (😂).

Job roles like Community Management, Community Moderation, Social Media Management, Smart Contract Development, Marketing and influencing, etc are now overly concentrated. I remember getting $200 weekly as a Community Moderator when I first started with Web3 jobs. Now, you'd see companies paying $30-$50 weekly, and yet Nigerians still scramble for it.

Does this mean it's over for Nigerians in the Web3 Labor market? No! People are still getting roles and high paying ones at that. I joined a space recently and someone shared that he was working with 10 companies concurrently. How is he doing it? What are people like this doing differently? Aren't we in the same Nigeria? Follow me!

How Nigerians Can Maneuver the Job/Labor Market Concentration

We Nigerians have proven overtime to be more active builders than users. According to Consensys, embracing Web3 technology has helped us to thrive in ways that have never been thought of before. It has also contributed in helping us build the future we want for ourselves.

Some of the advantages of Web3 jobs for Nigerians is that; it provides the ability to withstand inflation, it focuses more on one's ability to deliver a job than qualifications, it allows for remote work which gives freedom to still continue that 9-5, it offers competitive salary unlike other industries, etc. So how can you continue to enjoy these benefits when faced with the challenge of job market concentration?

Do Your Best to Always Upskill

The importance of upskilling can't be overemphasized regardless of any industry you find yourself in. Web3 companies would be more inclined to have you on their team if you're bringing value.

Remember there's a large number of talents out to get the same role you're interested in. You need to make yourself stand out. Look for things that increase your worth. For example, if you're a programmer, learn more languages- explore other niches like blockchain security, smart contract security, etc. If a person with just Solidity & python know-how is seeking for a role as you with all the other skills, there's a greater chance that you'd be picked.

Be on the Lookout for Latest Possible Sought out Skills

One thing about the blockchain ecosystem is that there's always a new opening that brings job opportunities. These openings would need skills that you can bring in if you're well equipped and knowledgeable about how to go around it.

Currently, there's Community Management which is seemingly over saturated. But do you know that the growth of the Web3 ecosystem would create a need for more workers that can function in HR, people operations, professional development, etc as it concerns decentralized companies? That's an alpha right there for CMs.

Explore Remarkable Upcoming Trends

At first, it was just about cryptocurrencies. Later on, there was NFTs & Play2Earn. Now, there's Metaverse & Artificial Intelligence. More and more trends will keep coming and there'll be job openings for them.

You just have to be on top of your game and do the necessary research. More gaming industries will come; games will need to be built, websites will be created, the community will need attention. How you stay positioned will determine if you will get these roles or not.

Volunteer for African Web3 Startups

Asides the conferences, hackathons, and other events being done to promote the African Web3 ecosystem, it is important that the right talents are also operating within the ecosystem.

Many of us run away from working for African startups (for good reason). However, that's also a means to stand out from the competition. With little funding for these start-ups, they'd be less interested in actually going all out to employ people. However, if you come in as a volunteer and play your role properly, they'd be more inclined to keep you for long-term seeing as you have brought value to them.

Build a Strong Portfolio of Web3 Projects

Your portfolio has to be catchy enough to sustain attention. You need to be bold and confident in proving that you can actually do the things you say you can do. People work by results- For example; as a marketer for the past Web3 project you worked for, how was the mint or public sale for that project?

You have to be able to give answers to questions like these using quantitative data- of the 100,000 people on boarded into the project, 80% succeeded in taking part in the public sale…the mint was a success as we were completely sold out. Things like this shows your potential employers that you are everything you say you are and more.

Attend Web3 events and Conferences

Another means to maneuver the over-concentration in the labor market is through networking via Web3 events and conferences. Referral is one way people get jobs right now. The only way you can get these referrals is by networking and forming new connections. An acquaintance of mine went to one such event & connected with someone there. The next night, that person posted about a spot they had in a company on their WhatsApp status, she sent a DM and got the job with no stress.

Build Social Media Presence and be Active in your Industry

One more way is to be active both on social media as well as in your industry. Nobody will come to your house and give you a job that thousands of people are seeking for. You need to put yourself out there.

Also, contribute to your industry. If you're a community manager, connect with other community managers; make yourself known via your interactions and contributions.

Now, you've done all of the above and are still struggling with the impact of job/labor market over-concentration in the Nigerian Web3 space?

Let's meet at the conclusion!

Conclusion

The Nigerian Web3 labor/job market is over-concentrated and that's a given. This doesn't mean that you can't work around it if you put your mind to it. So many things like upskilling, networking, and a host of others have been examined here.

One last thing I'd like to add is this: create opportunities for yourself. There's no niche for you? You've tried all that's explored here and it's not working? Then go ahead to build a custom niche based on your capabilities and skill set. Create that job you desire. Then sell yourself.

Best of luck. See you at the top.