Expert criticizes hiring devs in crypto amidst massive layoffs in tech

A health tech expert Zach Weinberg recently criticized developers working in the crypto sector, highlighting that their talents could be used better and choosing not to notice that exchanges picked up employees ditched by big tech.

Over the past few months, the tech industry has been experiencing massive layoffs, with tens of thousands losing jobs. Some crypto companies, including Binance, have taken advantage of the situation and added more expertise to their staff. 

However, an expert in the health tech industry just recently sent a barrage criticizing devs who accept job offers in the crypto space. In a Twitter thread posted on March. 15, Zach Weinberg insinuates that developers working in the crypto space would be doing  “more useful things.”

Zach even noted that crypto firms like Coinbase take away engineers from interesting health companies, luring them with large checks amounting to $600,000 annually. He even called crypto entities “a glorified onramp to consumer gambling.”

Furthermore, the expert insinuated that society is not better off in the long run if the best engineers work on ways to make money quickly through dogecoin.

To even express his disdain for crypto hirings, Zach seemed to advocate for higher interest rates to kill crypto companies. He noted that low interests allow bad companies to thrive, hiring good people or developers. Therefore, he advocates for higher rates, leading investors to make longer-term investment decisions; hence crypto startups will die faster. 

Crypto startups are saving jobs

Despite the tweets, it’s good to note that crypto has been saving lots of jobs in the tech space in recent months. When tech giants like Twitter and Facebook, and others fired thousands of people, crypto projects kept many employed. 

A CoinGecko report shows that while crypto projects retrenched some workers, the number of jobs lost was miniature compared to the general tech space. The number of crypto layoffs in 2022 alone amounted to over 4,600 representing only 4% of the tech industry. 

Crypto layoffs came tenth for the ones in the tech space. The health sector tech, where Zach is an expert, recorded 9021 job losses. Notice that, despite crypto facing its worst winters, health and other industries still lost more jobs than crypto, based on reports.

Even more interesting is the fact that crypto companies are still hiring. In January, reports emerged that the Binance network wanted to increase its staff count by 15-30% in 2023. Other crypto networks are continually advertising for more opportunities.