Indeed says there’s a cybersecurity skills gap, could you capitalize on it?

Cyber war

Data breaches, election hacking, and remote spying are all very real issues we face, and surprise, apparently we’re not entirely equipped to deal with it. According to Indeed, there’s a huge global cybersecurity skills gap.

Indeed compiled two years of data from ten countries to identify where the greatest demand for cybersecurity jobs are and where the field is showing growth.

Vacancies everywhere

There are currently around one million cybersecurity jobs left unfilled.

Based on millions of job postings, Israel’s need for cybersecurity professionals more than doubles the need of the US.

Israel’s demand surpasses the US by 187.4 percent, and is 89.2 percent higher than Ireland, who falls in second place.

Though Israel and Ireland are quite small countries compared to others who ranked in the top ten, they put a strong emphasis on security and technology.

Israel in the lead

In fact, Israel has more startups and scientists than any other country in the world per capita.

Israel ranks second only behind the US as a cybersecurity goods and services exporter.

Likewise, Ireland is a major tech center who house European operations for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Dell.

Shortage in skills

Cybersecurity skill shortages are a problem worldwide.

According to the key findings, the supply of job seekers only exceeds 50 percent of employer demand in the US and Canada.

This truly is a crisis. With so few professionals seeking out cybersecurity jobs, the more positions left unfilled, the more exposed we all are to cybercrime.

Picky, picky

Certain skills are more sought than others. Network security specialists are in the highest demand in Israel, Ireland, the UK, the US, and Germany.

Network security outranks mobile security, application security, identity, and access management in these countries.

But there simply aren’t enough skilled professionals to fill the demand.

Job supply > job demand

According to Indeed’s findings, the supply for cybersecurity jobs outweighs the demand in all top ten countries.

Although the gap varies, across the board there are not enough job seekers worldwide looking to fill the postings.

Fortunately, over the past two years the supply of cybersecurity professionals has increased in some markets.

Ireland is closing the cybersecurity gap

So far Ireland has come closest to closing the skills gap, with 39 percent of job seekers interested in positions in 2016 versus only 25 percent in 2014.
The US has seen only a seven percent increase in interest, but at least it is some improvement.

However, some countries mismatch between supply and demand is getting worse.

Canada, the UK, and Brazil all saw decreases in job seeker interest, with Canada suffering a 12 percent decline.

Cloud security roles are the least met supply, but there are some skills with a surplus of job seeker interest.

For example, in the US Chief Information Security Officer interest surpasses employer demand by 200 percent.

This doesn’t mean that everyone seeking this position is highly qualified, but it is still important to consider why there is such a demand for this position among job seekers.

Part of the draw could be due to the high salary and prestige of certain positions.

What to do about our gap?

So how can countries suffering a supply-demand imbalance close the gap?

Employers could look to other countries as a source of talent since interest gap is not the same for each country.

Those seeking to fill ethical hacking positions might seek applicants from the UK where there is a surplus.

Additionally, some cybersecurity organizations stress that treating cybersecurity as a nesting doll within computing rather than its own standalone field is part of the problem.

Organizations can identify qualified professionals and offer on-job training to help close the gap. However, there isn’t one simple fix.

A bit exposed

Cybersecurity is a complex profession that requires advanced certifications and an in-depth understanding of risks businesses face.

Closing the skills gap is crucial, but until the talent pool grows, cybercrime will continue to be a major threat.

#CyberSecurity