A decade of employment growth in the cybersecurity workforce has not been enough to narrow the talent gap, signaling that more urgent action is needed.
Nearly 265,000 more cybersecurity workers are required to address current staffing needs, according to new data from CyberSeek. There are enough workers to fill only 83% of the available cybersecurity jobs. This is despite the fact that the cybersecurity workforce has expanded each year since 2013. An estimated 1.25 million people currently work in cybersecurity roles throughout the economy.
“The workforce gap underscores why we promote alternative pathways to careers in cybersecurity during Cybersecurity Career Week to broaden participation from individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences,” said Rodney Petersen, director of NICE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “Closing that gap will require diversified approaches and investments, including education, training, reskilling and upskilling, and registered apprenticeships.”
While employers have slowed their search for technology workers generally, positions in cybersecurity have been less impacted. In the 12 months between September 2023 and August 2024, employer job postings for IT occupations declined by 28%. Postings for cybersecurity jobs saw a 22% decrease, suggesting that despite the downturn, cybersecurity is more resilient than the entire IT sector. Job postings for cybersecurity positions totaled 457,398 in the 12-month period.
“After the pandemic-fueled IT hiring spree, cybersecurity job demand has stabilized close to pre-pandemic levels,” said Will Markow, Vice President of Applied Research at Lightcast. “However, the industry faces a perfect storm of AI-driven technological change, rising geopolitical tensions around the world, and an ever-evolving regulatory landscape. Taken together, skill requirements are shifting faster than many practitioners can keep up, which is causing the cybersecurity talent gap to widen once again.”
“Narrowing the supply-and-demand gap for cybersecurity talent is a significant challenge and a promising opportunity,” said Amy Kardel, vice president, strategy and market development, academic, CompTIA. “It requires changes in mindset and approach; understanding that there are many pathways to employment; seeking out job candidates who come to the workforce via alternate routes; and a stronger focus on retraining and upskilling of current employees.”
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on cybersecurity job openings continues to grow. Over the past year, cybersecurity job postings with some requirements for AI skills have increased from 6.3% to 7.3%. Among all IT job postings, the increase has been more dramatic, from 18.5% to 25%, reflecting the growing importance of AI across the IT landscape.
Examining job postings by industry sectors is another confirmation of the expansive need for cybersecurity professionals. Sectors as diverse as other services, except public administration (+40%); agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting (+26.5%); wholesale trade (+22.5%); retail trade (+13.9%); and accommodation and food services (+10.86%) recorded the highest month-over-month percentage growth rates in job postings from Q2 2024 to Q3 2024.
Cybersecurity employment opportunities are present at every career step, from an entry-level cybercrime analyst (+23% increase in job postings from Q2 to Q3) to a mid-level incident and intrusion analyst (+9.6%) to an advanced-level cybersecurity engineer (+10.2%).
CyberSeek provides detailed, actionable data about the cybersecurity job market. It is a joint initiative of NICE, a program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology focused on advancing cybersecurity education and workforce development; Lightcast, a leading authority on global job skills, workforce talent, and labor market dynamics; and CompTIA, the world’s leading information technology (IT) certification and training body.
Visit https://www.cyberseek.org/ to learn more.
