The past 12 months have been uncertain, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing major economic damage to a range of industries, from retail to education to communications.
Cybersecurity is one field that hasn’t necessarily experienced mass job loss, but is still suffering from a different problem — retention and hiring.
A new report from ISACA and HCL Technologies found that a high 61 percent of cybersecurity leaders say their teams are understaffed, while 55 percent say they have unfilled cybersecurity positions in their offices. The survey reached 3,600 information security professionals who revealed they had a hard time holding on to important talent over the past year, reports Help Net Security.
Difficulties with hiring and retention
While the pandemic might not have led to layoffs in the cybersecurity space, the cultural shifts brought about by the health crisis certainly impacted the information security workforce. One big reason for such low hiring and retention numbers seems to be “limited remote work possibilities” at their firms, as work-from-home culture has largely — in many instances, enthusiastically — been adopted by most American workers.
The report also found that 50 percent of cybersecurity leaders say the applicants they do see are “not well qualified.”
Ensuring cybersecurity firms are fully staffed is important given the crisis that has been growing ever grimmer in recent years — the rise of cyberattacks
About 68 percent of those surveyed who said they’ve experienced more cyberattacks also reported being “somewhat or significantly understaffed.” Additionally, 63 percent who have experienced these cyberattacks revealed they have a hard time retaining “qualified cybersecurity professionals.”
Jonathan Brandt, ISACA information security professional practices lead, told Help Net Security that the past year revealed “just how vital cybersecurity is to ensuring business continuity.”
“As a global cybersecurity community, it is imperative that we all come together to recalibrate how we hire, retain and train our future cyber leaders to ensure we have a solid workforce to meet these evolving cybersecurity needs,” Brandt added.
Skills cybersecurity professionals need
If you’re a cybersecurity professional and looking for work, the industry leaders surveyed by ISACA and HCL Technologies highlighted what they’re looking for.
About 95 percent of respondents said they are seeking candidates with hands-on cybersecurity experience, 89 percent cited credentials, while 81 percent cited hands-on training. When it comes to gaps in experience, 56 percent said “soft skills” are often lacking, 36 percent cited security controls and 33 percent referenced software development skills.
To close these gaps and fix this cybersecurity hiring void, they pointed to better training programs for non-security staff who hope to move to security positions, an increased reliance on contract employees and external contractors to better adjust to our modern “gig economy,” more emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, as well as better performance-based trainings.
In an ever more complex world full of increased cybersecurity threats, it’s crucial we continue to build and harness a workforce that can keep our companies and personal and professional data safe and secure.