Hype aside, cryptocurrencies and blockchain are industries with vast amounts of job opportunities. Indeed, a recent survey indicated that job openings in the aforementioned sectors have increased by 300%. This massive growth demonstrates that blockchain employers are confident in the availability of qualified personnel in the market.

According to Glassdoor, a website that reviews employers, most of the vacancies are in San Francisco and New York. Outside the US, the leading location in terms of job openings is London, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and Toronto. This is understandable, as most of these cities are leading global tech hubs. Now, blockchain technology wants to shift this attention to medium-sized cities.

One of the cities that will benefit from this initiative is Iloilo, Philippines. The country is recognized as one of the leading IT outsourcing destinations in the world. Recently, StackTrek launched StackLab, a training program focused on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. StackLab intends to equip local developers and engineers with skills on blockchain networks, with special emphasis on Bitcoin Cash.

StackLab is co-funded by CoinGeek.com and its proprietor, Calvin Ayre, an Antiguan businessman who recently pumped $150,000 towards the project’s development. Ultimately, StackLab aims to establish tech hubs in medium-sized cities throughout the Philippines. The learning curriculum and projects will be provided by nChain.

The StackLab pre-training competition attracted almost 700 participants who were subjected to an unbiased programmer capability assessment test funded by the World Bank and accredited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The competition was supported by the city’s mayor as well as the Education Council of Iloilo. The training covers a period of six months, after which StackLab assist the trainees in finding jobs.

In addition to its training center, StackLab is also touring schools and spare ding awareness on blockchain technology. Regarding this, Bill Yuen, a co-founder of StackLab, said that they have reached over 1,000 students through their blockchain speaking series.

StackLab is one of many initiatives introduced by Calvin Ayre to improve social life in the Philippines. To learn more about this project, join the upcoming CoinGeek Week Conference scheduled to be held next month in London.

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