In 2024 , the shortages of skilled cybersecurity employees will start to bite .
Jamal Elmellas , Chief Operating Officer at Focus-on-Security , the cybersecurity recruitment agency
Skills shortages will begin to be felt due to them being cumulative
There is an annual shortfall of 11,200 cybersecurity employees , according to UK Government research , and this is cumulative which means year-on-year the shortage is intensifying . Moreover , an increase in demand for cyber-roles of 30 % and growth in employment of 10 % over the course of 2022 indicate demand is also on the up .
In 2024 , the shortages of skilled cybersecurity employees will start to bite and businesses will no longer be able to keep doing what they have been doing and recruit from the same small pool of talent . Recruitment strategies will have to become more creative in a bid to identify raw talent if security teams don ’ t want to be left short staffed .
Emergence of more low cost or free training schemes to boost intake
Industry bodies have already taken proactive action with the likes of ( ISC ) 2 offering a million free entry level certification courses and exams while in the US a number of universities have launched free online courses .
Advances in the provision of courses online mean this is now a viable low-cost alternative . So next year we can expect to see more subsidised or free training in a bid to attract more people into the sector or to upskill professionals to fill those roles that are in high demand .
A brain drain as more senior execs leave the field due to stress and burnout
Stress levels continue to be high with incidents and alert levels on the rise which means we are on track to realise Gartner ’ s prediction of 50 % of cybersecurity leaders changing jobs and 25 % leaving by 2025 . Thus far that exodus has been tempered by the cost-of-living crisis but as inflation stabilises and confidence returns there will be an exodus at the top . Given the years of experience needed to fill these roles , this could seriously destabilise security teams and stall security projects .
Crackdown on AI in recruitment
AI has long been a part of recruitment but the emergence of Generative AI Large Learning Models ( LLMs ) is now seeing the technology used by candidates too . AI apps are providing candidates with ready crafted replies during interviews , for example . Next year we can expect to see the industry self-regulate with specific clauses in agreements against AI-generated CVs and AI-lead interviews .
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