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Why Are Some Cybersecurity Professionals Not Finding Jobs?

Last week, I posted a CNBC technology article on LinkedIn titled: ‘We are outnumbered’ — cybersecurity pros face a huge staffing shortage as attacks surge during the pandemic.

The article starts with this video claiming that there is a tremendous shortage of about 4 million skilled workers needed for cyber jobs. Here’s an excerpt:

“The group reported in late 2019 that 2.8 million professionals work in cybersecurity jobs globally, but the industry would need another 4 million trained workers in order to properly defend organizations and close the skills gap. That includes about half a million workers needed in the U.S. to meet demand. A separate survey of more than 300 cybersecurity professionals from ISSA shows that 70% of organizations report being impacted by the worker shortage and 45% of respondents say the cybersecurity skills shortage and its associated impacts have only gotten worse in recent years. …”

I suspect this story will not surprise most readers. In fact, this “cyber pro shortage” trend has existed for several years. I wrote about this issue in 2012 and in 2016 and spoke with my friend John McCumber from ISC2 about this topic in a BrightTalk webcast last year. Numerous other more recent stories provide a similar message. Consider these headlines:

• Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in January 2019: The Cybersecurity Workforce Gap
• Cybersecurity Ventures in February 2020: Cybersecurity Talent Crunch To Create 3.5 Million Unfilled Jobs Globally By 2021
• Dark Reading in April 2020: Demand for Cybersecurity Jobs Declines But Still Outperforms Other Sectors
• CSO Magazine in August 2020: The cybersecurity skills shortage is getting worse
• Asia Insurance Review in September 2020: Cyber security skills gap continues to widen

“Not True” – Or – “Experts Can’t Find Jobs”  

When I posted these articles, most (Read more...)