September 11, 2024 at 06:15AM
The shortage of security professionals compared to job openings has reached 4.8 million, with a 19% increase in positions needing to be filled. While the theoretical infosec workforce could be 10.3 million, global hiring has remained flat. The staffing shortage is now attributed to budget cuts, layoffs, and other factors, with significant skills and staffing shortages being faced by organizations. There is also a mismatch between the cybersecurity skills being sought and those practitioners believe are in demand, with 90% of organizations having skills gaps within their security teams. Despite job postings for tech positions growing, companies are cautious about spending, with 36% facing difficulty in procuring cybersecurity budgets. Training options are being explored to address skill gaps.
From the meeting notes, I have gathered the following key takeaways:
1. The shortfall between the number of working security professionals and the number of security job openings has reached 4.8 million, representing a 19 percent year-on-year increase in positions that should be filled.
2. The theoretical infosec workforce, if all staffing needs were fulfilled at once, is approximately 10.3 million workers according to ISC2.
3. Despite the theoretical workforce number, the global security workforce is estimated to be 5.5 million, with only a 0.1 percent year-on-year increase.
4. The 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, involving 15,852 cyber security practitioners globally, revealed that “lack of budget” has become the top cause of staffing shortage, as cited by survey respondents.
5. The study also highlighted that there is a mismatch between the cyber security skills being sought by hiring managers and those that practitioners believe are in demand, with AI, cloud computing, zero trust, and incident response being among the top skills in demand.
6. This data indicates the critical need for investments in security education and training for new cybersecurity professionals.
7. Regarding the tech employment landscape, the CompTIA Tech Jobs Report for September noted modest gains in sectors such as Telecommunications, Cloud Infrastructure/Data Processing/Hosting, and Other Info Services/Search/Platforms, while overall tech occupation employment declined in August.
8. Despite an increasing number of tech job postings and interest in hiring cyber security talent, companies are exercising caution in spending and scrutinizing budgets, with a significant portion considering training offerings for their current workforce to address skill gaps.
These clear takeaways outline the challenges and opportunities within the cybersecurity and tech employment sectors, with a particular emphasis on the importance of addressing skills gaps, budget constraints, and strategic investments in training and development.