Your business just survived a ransomware attack. Customer data is encrypted, your reputation is under fire, and downtime is costing money. You call a security contact you know, and hear: "Guys, I'm booked three months out."

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Demand for cybersecurity professionals outstrips supply by a wide margin. According to the 2024 ISC2 study, the global gap between workforce need and actual headcount reached 4.8 million people, 19% more than the year before. This is a structural shift in the labor market, not a temporary shortage.

We gathered the latest numbers, the real reasons behind the talent drought, and strategies that help companies land strong security pros even in a fierce competition for talent.

💡 Quick overview:

• Global cybersecurity workforce gap: 4.8 million professionals, and the gap keeps growing.
• Key hiring barriers: lack of budget, long time-to-fill, and stiff competition with tech companies.
• What works: hybrid format, internal training, rethinking candidate requirements, and embedding security into adjacent IT roles.
• Looking ahead: AI takes over Tier-1 tasks, but demand for architects, cloud security pros, and AI security engineers only grows.

Why cybersecurity became a critical business asset

Digitalization is eating one industry after another. Finance, retail, healthcare, logistics run on software, clouds, and APIs. Every new digital entry point is a potential attack vector. Phishing, ransomware, supply chain attacks, threat actors work faster and more creatively than five years ago.

At the same time, the regulatory screws are tightening. GDPR in Europe, similar laws in dozens of jurisdictions, industry standards like PCI DSS require businesses not to "install an antivirus" but to build a full-fledged defense system. A fine for a personal data breach is comparable to a business unit's annual revenue.

The bottom line: cybersecurity is no longer the domain of a sysadmin in the server room. It is a board-level function that directly affects a company's survival.

The scale of the shortage: numbers and real risks

According to the ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study for 2024, the active global cybersecurity workforce is 5.5 million people, while the need exceeds 10 million. The 4.8 million gap is not an abstraction: every unfilled post means unchecked logs, missed alerts, and delayed incident response.

The 2025 ISACA study, which surveyed nearly 4,000 professionals, showed: 55% of teams are understaffed, and 65% of organizations have unfilled positions. At the same time, 38% of respondents reported that hiring even for entry-level positions takes three to six months.

The World Economic Forum in Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 recorded: only 14% of organizations have the necessary number of qualified professionals. The remaining 86% work with what they have, in conditions where every second business faced an incident due to a lack of competencies in the security team.

Why companies are losing the battle for talent

There are several reasons, and budget is only one of them. According to ISC2, "lack of budget" overtook "lack of qualified candidates" for the first time as the main cause of the workforce shortage. 33% of organizations cannot afford market-rate salaries for security pros, and 29% cannot fund the required number of headcount.

Another problem is competition for talent. Specialized tech companies and international corporations offer salaries and conditions that mid-sized businesses cannot match. The median annual salary for an information security analyst in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2024, is $124,910, almost three times the median for all professions. The 90th percentile exceeds $186,000.

The third factor is inflated hiring requirements. Companies look for a "unicorn": someone who can run pentests, knows cloud architecture, and leads a team of five. There are only a handful of such people on the market. A more pragmatic approach, hiring for specific domains and growing competencies internally, is still used by few.

How cybersecurity is seeping into adjacent IT roles

A trend of the last two years: security requirements in job postings that previously had no overlap with it. A SharePoint developer, an integration engineer, a DevOps specialist, everyone now needs a basic level of security awareness.

Take the role of SharePoint Developer Job Description: a modern template for this position includes knowledge of data protection principles and access management. The SharePoint platform is widely used to store sensitive corporate information, from financial reports to HR documents. Businesses want to be sure that the developer configuring these systems understands how permissions, encryption, and access auditing work.

A similar story applies to web development. Digital platforms are under constant attack pressure, from DDoS to exploiting plugin vulnerabilities. Integrating protection at the development stage, not post factum, has become a standard for vendors and agencies.

More about "SharePoint Developer Job Description" can be found at the link.

The point is that demand for security competencies is growing not only through dedicated vacancies. It is spreading across the entire IT organization, fueling the overall shortage.

Strategies: how to find and retain security pros right now

The good news: even with the current imbalance, companies can win the battle for talent. Here is what works.

Invest in training, not just hiring. Partnerships with universities, sponsoring certifications (CISSP, CEH, CompTIA Security+), and internship programs provide a pipeline of candidates loyal specifically to your company. According to ISC2, 95% of organizations note a lack of at least one skill in their team, and 59% report critical or significant gaps. Internal training closes these holes faster than searching for a ready-made specialist.

Offer flexible work format. Remote and hybrid have become must-haves for IT professionals. Companies that insist on five days in the office cut off a significant portion of potential candidates at the resume screening stage. For a security pro who monitors logs from anywhere in the world, physical presence is rarely an operational necessity.

Grow security pros internally. A DevOps engineer who wants to go deeper into cloud security, or a system administrator with an interest in incident response, are ready candidates for reskilling. They already know your infrastructure. All that remains is to give them time for training, a budget for certification, and a mentor from among the current security staff.

Where the market is heading: AI, automation, and new roles

The future of the cybersecurity labor market is shaped by three forces.

First, artificial intelligence. Gartner predicts that by 2028, more than 50% of Tier-1 SOC analyst tasks will be performed by AI. According to Splunk State of Security 2025, 33% of teams plan to close workforce gaps with AI and automation. Demand is shifting from alert operators to AI security engineers who design and oversee these systems.

Second, burnout as an operational risk. Sophos for 2025 recorded a loss of 4.8 working hours per week per specialist due to burnout (an increase of over 25% year-over-year). 63% of CISOs, according to Proofpoint, have personally experienced burnout or observed it in their team. Companies that ignore this problem lose people faster than they hire new ones.

Third, demand growth over the next decade. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 29 percent increase in the number of information security analyst positions from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all professions. About 16,000 open positions annually in the US alone.

⁉️🤔 Frequent questions

Why are there so few cybersecurity professionals?

The main reason is the speed of demand growth. Threats multiply faster than universities graduate trained specialists. A high entry barrier: a newcomer is expected to understand networks, OS, clouds, and regulatory requirements, a set that requires years of practice.

The shortage is aggravated by the fact that 33% of organizations lack the budget for market-rate security salaries, according to 2024 ISC2 data. At the same time, 65% of companies keep positions unfilled for months. The market is overheated on both sides: employers cannot find people, candidates do not see adequate offers from non-monopolists.

Which certifications actually help in hiring?

Employers value practice-oriented certifications: CISSP for architects and managers, CEH and OSCP for pentesters, CompTIA Security+ for beginners. According to the Fortinet Skills Gap Report 2025, 89% of hiring managers prefer certified candidates. But a certificate without real experience is just a line on a resume.

Certifications work as a filter at the screening stage, not as a substitute for practice. The best strategy is to combine: one or two recognized certifications plus lab work, CTF competitions, or open-source contributions that you can show at an interview.

Can you grow a security pro inside the company?

Yes, and this is one of the most effective approaches given the current shortage. A system administrator, network engineer, or DevOps specialist with an interest in security is a ready candidate for reskilling. Three things are needed: paid time for training, a budget for certification, and a mentor from the current infosec team.

In our experience, an internal candidate reaches productivity in a junior security role within 6-12 months.

How can small and medium businesses compete for talent with corporations?

Do not compete on salary directly, but play on other fields. Flexible schedule and full remote work, a standard for small companies, which corporations often cannot offer due to compliance requirements. A broad range of tasks instead of narrow specialization attracts those who want rapid growth. Plus, profit sharing or stock options in a startup.

Practice shows: a security pro who single-handedly builds defense for a 50-person company has, in two years, a portfolio comparable to a corporate specialist twice their seniority. For many, this outweighs the difference in base salary. The main thing is not to skimp on tooling: a slashed security budget demotivates faster than a below-market salary.

Will AI replace cybersecurity professionals?

It will not replace them, but it will change the structure of roles. AI will cover routine Tier-1 tasks: alert triage, initial log analysis, enriching incidents with context. Gartner predicts that by 2028, more than half of such tasks will be automated. Demand for security architects, cloud engineers, and AI security specialists will only grow.

The risk is not that AI will take jobs away from security pros, but that companies cutting junior hiring will be left without seniors in 3-5 years. The right strategy is to redesign entry-level roles for AI-augmented work (threat hunting with AI hints, automated investigation), not to eliminate them.

What to do about the cybersecurity talent shortage: the bottom line

The cybersecurity labor market will remain overheated until the end of the decade, this is the consensus of ISC2, ISACA, and WEF. Companies that win this race do three things simultaneously.

They stop looking for "unicorns" and start growing security pros internally. A system administrator willing to learn is more valuable than a candidate with five certifications who is not on the market. Second, they accept flexible format as a given. And third, they embed security requirements into every IT role, from a SharePoint developer to a cloud architect.

If you are looking for a security pro right now, start with an audit of the requirements in your job posting. Remove three optional items, add a budget for certification, and show that you solve real problems, not write reports for the drawer. The difference in time-to-fill will surprise you.