Despite a decade of hiring, there are still significant skills shortages in the U.S. labor market. A recent report from the American Chamber has identified the hardest-hit industries and found that significant differences exist between financial services and professional and business services.
Both sectors have an abundance of open positions, but not enough qualified candidates to fill them.
“The industries with lower than average unemployment rates have fewer experienced candidates to choose from to fill their vacancies,” the report said. “This situation is leading to increased competition between companies in these sectors as they compete for the limited pool of available talent.
5 cybersecurity jobs you can apply for now
- Cyber Training Specialist, Senior, Booz Allen, Fort Meade ($84,600 – $193,000)
- Cyber Triage Analyst, Booz Allen, Stafford ($60,400 – $137,000)
- Cyber Threat Analyst (DCO), Alaka`ina Foundation Family of Companies, Honolulu
- Director of Technology and Cyber Risk, Comerica, Farmington Hills
- Cybersecurity Analyst, Brooksource, Indianapolis
One area particularly hard hit is cybersecurity. A new one report from CyberSeek found that there are only enough workers to fill 83% of available jobs. Although there are 1.25 million employees in cybersecurity roles nationwide, approximately 265,000 additional employees are needed to meet current staffing needs.
“Following the pandemic-induced IT hiring boom, demand for cybersecurity jobs has stabilized at pre-pandemic levels,” said Will Markow, vice president of applied research at Lightcast.
There are a number of reasons why this is happening, including the slew of layoffs and belt-tightening that has been experienced across the tech industry over the past two years.
Additionally, the pandemic has fueled the accelerated adoption of web-based services, and as more and more daily activities such as banking, food delivery and shopping move online, there is a greater need for security.
Fraud is also increasing. The Better business agency (BBB) has found that the average amount lost by victims of investment fraud has increased from $1,000 in 2021 to almost $6,000 this year.
A new one Consumer safety and financial crime A report from Revolut points to metaplatforms as the largest source of all scams (62%) in the first half of 2024. Revolut found that Facebook had fraud volumes (39%) more than double that of WhatsApp (18%) .
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is also widening the skills gap for cybersecurity workers. CyberSeek’s report shows that over the past year, the number of cybersecurity job openings with some AI skills requirements increased from 6.3% to 7.3%.
Developing cybersecurity talent
“Narrowing the gap between supply and demand for cybersecurity talent is a significant challenge and a promising opportunity,” said Amy Kardel, vice president of strategy and market development, academic at CompTIA.
“It requires changes in mindset and approach; understand that there are many paths to work; looking for applicants who come to the labor market via alternative routes; and a stronger focus on retraining and upskilling current employees.”
Ultimately, more skilled workers must be developed. According to Rodney Petersen, director of NICE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, new ways to develop that talent need to be deployed outside the traditional university route.
“The workforce gap underscores why during Cybersecurity Career Week we are promoting alternative pathways to a career in cybersecurity to broaden participation from individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
“Closing that gap will require diversified approaches and investments, including education, training, reskilling and upskilling, and registered apprenticeships.”
There are opportunities for talented tech workers at all levels. The report shows that entry-level cybercrime job openings increased by 23% between the second and third quarters of this year. Jobs for mid-level incident and intrusion analysts are up 9.6%, while jobs for advanced cybersecurity engineers are up 10.2%.
Ready to find your next job in tech? Visit the VentureBeat Job Board today and discover thousands of positions at companies that are actively hiring.
