Infosec pros can secure IT, but have harder time securing job satisfaction

Infosec pros can secure IT, but have harder time securing job satisfaction

November 2, 2023 at 02:03PM

The cybersecurity industry is seeing a rise in burnout rates, with a significant proportion of professionals reporting low levels of happiness at work. Issues such as departmental cutbacks, the threat of layoffs, and lack of managerial support contribute to the reduction in overall happiness. The threat of future layoffs has a more profound impact on job happiness than previous layoffs. Workloads have increased due to cross-industry downsizing, with excessive emails and lack of resources as pain points. Adequate resources are often lacking in organizations with staffing and skills shortages. Poor management negatively affects workplace satisfaction. On a positive note, there is growth in the cybersecurity skills space, with a 8.7 percent increase in the total number of security professionals. However, the industry skills gap has widened by 12.6 percent, with nearly four million jobs still unfulfilled.

Key takeaways from the meeting notes are as follows:

1. Cybersecurity professionals are reporting low “happiness ratings”, with 36.9% falling into the “low employee experience” bracket indicating low levels of happiness at work.

2. Overall workplace happiness is falling, with medium and high satisfaction ratings dropping and “low satisfaction” ratings growing by more than 5%.

3. The main factors contributing to the reduction in overall happiness are departmental cutbacks, the threat of layoffs, and lack of managerial support.

4. Layoffs significantly hurt team morale, and cybersecurity cutbacks have a negative effect on productivity.

5. Workers are facing increased workloads due to cross-industry downsizing, with excessive emails, lack of resources, staffing, and skills-related issues being common pain points.

6. Quality of management is a crucial factor in employee happiness, with poor management leading to low levels of workplace satisfaction.

7. The global security skills gap continues to worsen, despite an 8.7% increase in the number of security professionals. The skills gap has grown by 12.6% this year.

8. The skills gap refers to the calculation of jobs that should exist based on the cybersecurity needs of global organizations, not just the number of unfilled jobs.

9. Economic layoffs and cutbacks, as well as AI-related job losses, have further contributed to the skills gap.

10. Hiring growth is up in most countries, but the skills gap remains a challenge for the industry.

These takeaways highlight the increasing burnout rates and job dissatisfaction among cybersecurity professionals, as well as the widening skills gap in the industry. It is important for organizations to address these issues to improve employee happiness and ensure the availability of skilled cybersecurity professionals.

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