Opinion by: Nick Denisenko is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Brighty
You can’t fight it. Crypto investments and transactions are on the up. The technology is seamless in crossing borders and making international transactions convenient. Many people report this as a reason for choosing to receive payments in crypto. Using cryptocurrency to pay bills is becoming increasingly popular as digital currencies gain wider acceptance. And, with the number of digital nomads expected to exceed 60 million by 2030, the shift toward crypto has glaring consequences for businesses attracting talent in a global market.
Crypto companies are multinational by default. Spread across the globe, they’re no stranger to paying salaries in crypto. But today, the traditional economy also leans toward crypto payments for a straightforward reason.
Crypto promises to unlock talent from across the world. There are tricky compliance issues involved in hiring employees from abroad. By using crypto, companies will unlock the opportunity to pay — and work with — those who best fit their needs.
Foreign hires could even be cheaper and a better fit than locals. With border-crossing crypto fintech, the traditional economy will follow in the footsteps of crypto businesses, and location will no longer make up a competitive edge in hiring.
The workforce becomes truly global
In the past, businesses tended to hire locally. Some contractors could be hired from abroad, but their scope was minimal. Although relocation was possible, the core staff was local. In some ways, this was easier — little cultural friction or language barriers — but it also cost businesses an arm and a leg.
Hiring and paying remote employees was expensive — or worse, outright tricky. In some locations, payments could be hit with commissions and sometimes even account suspension. Contemporary procedures are often no better — the regulations can be rigid and unforgiving. For example, employees from certain countries will struggle to open a bank account in USD.
Recent: Tether USDt tops salary payments and savings in EU in 2024 — Brighty
That’s where the beauty of crypto lies. You can open up a stablecoin account in minutes, enabling you to receive your salary without problems. For example, Binance covers most local currencies, meaning that employees can also cash out on home ground. There is a strong demand for more businesses to accept crypto as a measure to grow crypto usage as a salary. People want to earn and spend this money.
There’s been robust growth in salary payments in crypto, and it’s an emerging trend. The possibility of paying employees in crypto already is and will continue to shape businesses worldwide.
Crypto payments enhance global hiring
Crypto payments matter financially. Employers are becoming increasingly aware that specific roles can be easily outsourced, and crypto payments streamline this process. With potential savings to avoid paying for the company’s jurisdiction, the payout from crypto can be high.
Another implication is the skills businesses are seeking. When employees are paid using crypto, it doesn’t really matter where they are from — and, with passport color brushed aside, employers are instead zeroing in on the skills of prospective hires.
These have always been important, but are even more so now. When employers can browse internationally for talent, proving you’re a real pro in your field could be the difference between nailing that job offer and missing out. Continuous education will become the norm as the workforce sharpens its skills.
Strong communication skills will be particularly in demand. This is perfectly understandable — remote teams from across the world could have quite varied communication styles. Some could be pushovers — some, fundamental authorities. Effectively adjusting to different working approaches will become fundamentally important. Even a surge in the number of intercultural mediation and communication coaches is expected in the coming years.
Crypto will narrow the competition in finding talent by allowing recruiters to hone in on desirable skills. It will also open up the geography of the potential workforce: Employees from Latin America and Asia will collaborate more and more with Europe and the US.
That’s not to say that the changes are without drawbacks. Labor markets in the US and Europe could be hit hard. These workforces are the most expensive because of compliance and regulations. With businesses increasingly able to look abroad for talent, domestic hires could see turbulent times.
Finally, there will be changes in the professions using crypto. Currently, most tech jobs are covered by crypto payments. But soon, the tech will go beyond the realm of the deep IT sector, as designers, tech writers, marketing managers, scriptwriters, operational managers and finance officers, among others, will use the technology. Another positive sign is that crypto transactions will change the creator economy and the industry of donations. These groups will begin to further accept payments from all over the world.
The growth of technology
Crypto is expanding. The tech is at the cutting edge of convenience and speed for international payments and investments. Crucially, this expansion is being met with shifts in the workforce — recruitment, skillset and location. Businesses that pay in crypto can afford to seek talent beyond their own borders. Let’s take borders out of the question and move location aside — talent can be found everywhere.
Opinion by: Nick Denisenko is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Brighty.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.