Dive Brief:

• Many IT executives (67%) in a recent poll said their companies require industry certifications for jobs in cybersecurity, according to results released Feb. 18. The survey, conducted by University of Phoenix and the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants, polled 256 individuals in CTO, CIO, CISO and similar roles at companies with 100 or more employees.
• Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they plan to hire information security professionals in 2020.
• "Cyber threats are growing exponentially, and IT employers must ensure that the candidates they are hiring possess the proper education and skills to take on these threats," said Stephanie Benoit-Kurtz, lead cybersecurity faculty at the school’s Las Vegas Campus, in a press release. "Organizations often don’t have the time or funding to invest in developing employees, and these industry certifications often provide the minimum standards to prepare professionals to combat today’s cyber threats."

Dive Insight:

As low unemployment and skill gaps persist, some employers have turned away from degree and certification requirements, instead prioritizing experience and learnability.

Others, however, say certifications and other such credentials can provide employers some certainty as to workers’ skills — especially as tech skills shift faster than traditional education providers can keep up.

Regardless of the approach individual employers take, however, it’s clear that cybersecurity talent is in demand: To fill the talent gap for cybersecurity experts, the cybersecurity workforce would need to grow 145%, a late 2019 report from (ISC)² concluded.

For employers struggling to fill those roles, it also may be worthwhile to source candidates internally; some IT professionals say they’re worried their skills may soon be obsolete, and that they’d like training in fields such as cybersecurity to remain valuable.