There’s been a lot of chatter lately about a possible hiring slowdown in the tech industry. However, some new data suggests that hiring will only increase within the cybersecurity realm.
According to CyberSeek, a joint initiative between the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), Emsi Burning Glass, and CompTIA, demand for cybersecurity professionals is “speeding up as more public and private sector organizations look to strengthen defenses against a multitude of threats.”
How much is that demand accelerating? In the 12-month period through April, U.S. employers posted some 714,548 cybersecurity jobs—and 40 percent of those jobs were listed in the first four months of 2022. Over those 12 months, demand for cybersecurity jobs increased 43 percent, versus 18 percent for the entire job market.
“The growth of job openings and steady increases of people employed in cybersecurity-related roles is an indication that cybersecurity is becoming more important and urgent for enterprises as they protect their organizations and consumers from risks precipitated by the increase in remote workers, supply chain concerns and world events,” Rodney Petersen, director of NICE, wrote in a statement accompanying the data.
Much of this cybersecurity hiring is taking place in finance and insurance; manufacturing and real estate have also enjoyed spikes in demand for cybersecurity professionals. (And don’t forget governments, which also have an intense need to secure their tech stacks.) “Emsi Burning Glass has been tracking cybersecurity jobs since 2012, and demand in the first four months of 2022 has outpaced anything we’ve ever seen,” Will Markhow, vice president of Applied Research, wrote in a statement. “Employers are desperate to find enough skilled workers to counter constantly growing digital threats.”
Other research firms have noted a rise in demand for cybersecurity roles. For example, Gartner recently predicted that cybersecurity spending will reach $187 billion in 2023, an increase of about 11 percent from 2022. Despite the spike in hiring (and the willingness of employers to pay notable sums for talent), there are still an estimated 600,000 open security positions throughout the U.S. While fears of inflation and a bear market persist, companies everywhere still need to secure their systems from internal and external threats, especially as those systems grow more advanced.
