Dive Brief:

• Despite cybersecurity job training growth, hiring hasn't kept up with demand, according to a report from analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies. Citing data from the National Center for Education Studies, the company said that postsecondary cybersecurity training and the number of graduates in the field rose by 33% and 40%, respectively, between 2013 and 2017. But the field's ratio of employed workers to job openings has changed little in four years, it noted.
• One reason for the gap, per the report, is that cybersecurity has grown to become a critical function across industries rather than being solely a concern for the government and defense industries. According to Burning Glass Technology's database, the number of cybersecurity job postings has grown 94% since 2013 — more than three times faster than all other information technology (IT) job postings. Cybersecurity jobs also pay 16% more on average than other IT jobs, but take 20% longer to fill, the report said.
• The cybersecurity job market is also being impacted by changing skill demands. The report said demand for cybersecurity roles with automation skills has grown by 225% since 2013. Demand for risk management skills has grown by 133% since that time. Burning Glass Technologies projects the fastest-growing cybersecurity skills over the next five years to be public cloud security and knowledge of the Internet of Things.

Dive Insight:

The report highlights a problem still confronting many companies: how to meet a critical demand for skills that are scarce despite increased investments in training and education.

Talent shortages are considered an emerging business risk. A Gartner survey found that talent shortages jumped from third to first place among top business risks going into 2019. Positions cited by executives in the same survey as the most difficult for which to find talent included roles adjacent to cybersecurity, like cloud computing. A 2017 study by (ISC2) projected 1.8 million cybersecurity jobs will be unfilled in 2022.

With that scarcity comes the challenge creating an effective employment proposition. Workers in such fields command higher salaries; an ADP report released earlier this week found wages grew 4% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2019 in response to labor shortages. A thin market may force employers to pay more for new hires and for current employees they want to keep, Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute, previously said in a statement accompanying the ADP report.

Although money is an important asset in the competition for talent, employers have other options for attracting quality candidates including, but not limited to, paid time off, flexible work schedules, training and advancement opportunities and a positive culture.