3.5 Million Openings for Cybersecurity Jobs by 2025

May 15, 2022

The number of vacant positions in the field of cybersecurity increased by a factor of 350 during a period of eight years monitored by Cybersecurity Ventures, going from one million vacancies in 2013 to 3.5 million posts in 2021. The skills gap in cybersecurity is leveling down for the first time in ten years, which is a significant milestone. When we project forward another five years, we anticipate there will be the same amount of opportunities in the year 2025. Statement for the Press

A staggering statistic is sending shockwaves through the cybersecurity industry, according to a report published by The New York Times in 2018. Cybersecurity Ventures has predicted that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2021, which is an increase from the one million positions that were available in 2014.

In spite of widespread efforts throughout the sector to close the skills gap, the forecast was accurate: the number of unfilled cybersecurity jobs around the globe in 2021 will be sufficient to fill fifty football stadiums.

According to CyberSeek, a project supported by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), which is a program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States Department of Commerce, the cybersecurity workforce in the United States includes more than 950,000 workers, with approximately 465,000 of those positions still needing to be filled.

The labor market in the United States exemplifies a worldwide issue with supply and demand with the recruitment of workers with cybersecurity certificates.

According to CyberSeek, there are little more than 90,000 CISSPs (Certified Information Systems Security Professionals) throughout the US, yet more than 106,000 job postings need the CISSP certification, which is considered the gold standard in our profession. Or, take CISMs, or Certified Information Security Managers; there are only 17,000 individuals who now possess this degree, despite the fact that roughly 40,000 positions are currently being offered that need it.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States projects that “information security analyst” will be the 10th fastest growing occupation over the next decade, with an employment growth rate of 31 percent compared to the average growth rate of 4 percent for all occupations.
This places “information security analysts” in the 10th position for the most rapidly expanding occupations. Employers are able to search for individuals from a larger pool of potential candidates since the bulk of these (entry-level to mid-level) occupations do not need certificates.

Beginning in 2022, it is anticipated that the shortage of qualified cybersecurity workers in the United States will begin to gradually improve as the numbers in India, the world’s second-most populous country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion and a hub of talent for global IT outsourcing, continue to trend upward.

Although there will continue to be a severe shortage of cybersecurity workers for some time to come, there is now some light at the end of the tunnel.

Big Tech

The skills gap in the United States is being exploited by large tech companies.

Microsoft has just just started a nationwide initiative with community colleges in the United States to assist in the placement of 250,000 individuals into the cybersecurity sector by the year 2025. This number represents half of the labor gap in the country.

In a full-page advertisement that is now running in The Wall Street Journal, Google is claiming to be educating one hundred thousand Americans for important careers in the fields of data privacy and security. This commitment is being made by the corporation via the Google Career Certificate program, as was noted in a blog post published by the company a few of months ago.

IBM is going to train 150,000 people in cybersecurity skills over the course of the next three years, and they are going to partner with more than 20 historically black colleges and universities to establish cybersecurity leadership centers in order to grow a more diverse cyber workforce. This information was announced in a Fact Sheet that was published by the White House.

In the fight against cybercrime, training providers and other smaller businesses have joined forces with large technology companies and the United States government.

Code.org recently attended an event at the White House with companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Apple, and Amazon, where they pledged to educate children about cybersecurity ideas to three million pupils.

This involves the education of two million children in grades K-12 in a total of 35,000 classrooms over the course of the next three years, as well as the introduction of a new instructional cybersecurity video series with a target audience of one million students of all ages. Young women make up 45 percent of Code.org’s student body, while students from underrepresented racial and cultural groups make up 49 percent of the organization’s total enrollment.

Tech Workers

Although some tech analysts and associations have been way off on their cybersecurity employment forecasts (requiring frequent and large adjustments to their figures), neither of these methods accurately reflect the current job market. Instead, both of these methods portray the number of job openings based on limited surveys or job board listings.

In order to develop prospective replacement candidates in a competitive market with high turnover, many cybersecurity positions are offered. These occupations, however, should not be included in the labor shortage. There are also instances of companies and search firms (in addition to contract recruiters) placing identical job advertisements online for the same openings.

Every information technology job today now involves some aspect of cybersecurity. Every person who works in information technology, as well as every person who works in technology, is (or should be) engaged in some capacity with safeguarding and defending applications, data, devices, and infrastructure, as well as people.

IT workers are increasingly taking on security responsibilities as part of their overall role, which means that a growing portion of the responsibilities for cybersecurity jobs that are currently posted but not filled are being taken on by IT workers. This is despite the fact that many organizations ranging from medium to large size post cybersecurity jobs that go unfilled.

There are more than 12 million people employed in the technology sector in the United States, and there are around 75 million technology employees worldwide. These employees will (unofficially) continue to soak up the cybersecurity duties intended for the roles that businesses are struggling to fill, whether it is by design or out of the sheer need of the situation. Whether it is by design or out of the sheer necessity of the situation.

Jobs Available to Everyone

Cybercrime, which is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $6 trillion in 2021, will continue to generate a number of new jobs that are roughly equal to those that will be filled over the next five years. This is due to the fact that cybercrime is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

During an interview for a podcast produced by Cybercrime Magazine in 2018, Robert Herjavec, a Shark on the Emmy Award-winning television program “Shark Tank” shown on ABC, said that “if you know cybersecurity, then you have a career for life.” At that time, he said that the unemployment rate in the cybersecurity industry is exactly 0 percent.

It is possible that the concept of employment throughout one’s whole working life might become a statistical reality in the next five years, given the current amount of job vacancies. However, the amount of knowledge one has to know about cybersecurity is subjective, but the number of employment prospects available in our industry seems to be endless.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Security, Compliance, and Identity, Vasu Jakkal, said, “Cybersecurity needs you.” She is not simply referring to those with prior expertise in the technical field. “Cybersecurity requires individuals with various backgrounds,” including those with experience in business, law enforcement, the military, science, liberal arts, marketing design, and a wide variety of other professions.

According to Joanna Burkey, the Chief Information Security Officer of HP Inc., “Allow me to demolish a prevalent myth: that cybersecurity personnel must be technological wunderkinder, hoodie-clad prodigies who can break a password in six seconds with time to spare for an energy drink.” Although highly technical positions are essential, in a robust cybersecurity organization they make up less than a third of the workforce on average.

There is a lot more space under the ‘huge tent’ of this profession than people believe there is, according to Burkey, who adds that an estimated 3.5 million positions in cybersecurity throughout the world are expected to go unfulfilled in the year 2021. “If we want to be successful in the future, we need to welcome individuals who have competence not only in technical jobs, but also in risk management, business analysis, sales, deal support, and even marketing and communications,” you may read.

In a recent interview with Cybercrime Magazine, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Bank of America, Craig Froehlich, said that “people who are neurodiverse need to be a part of our team.” According to Froelich’s point of view, members of the neurodiverse community bring benefits to the table, particularly for positions involving cybersecurity.

Jen Easterly, director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said in a presentation at the Black Hat USA 2021 conference that “Everyone knows the numbers by this point in time.” According to Cybersecurity Ventures, there are 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions throughout the globe, and around 500,000 of those opportunities are located right here in the United States. To be able to establish a cybersecurity workforce that is capable of dealing with the highly digital world that we live in,, in my own view, has to be a national endeavor that is quite ambitious.

Easterly said, “The cultivation of varied groups is one of my specific areas of interest.” Because gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, in addition to education and background, all of which translate into the diversity of thought, organizations that want to build, particularly in technology and cybersecurity, need to reflect the incredible diversity of our nation.

This is especially true in fields like information technology and computer security. This enables us to tackle our most difficult challenges more effectively and more quickly. Because of the great variety among us, we are far better equipped to work together to find solutions to these difficulties.

The phrase “You can’t be what you can’t see” was coined by Ron Green, executive vice president, and chief security officer of Mastercard. It perfectly captures the essence of the situation. If we want young people, women, individuals from minority groups, people with disabilities, and people who have crossed over from other sectors, then we need to show the people who are successful in the industry and can serve as role models. In such a case, they will swarm to our farm in great numbers.