The hiring market for cyber security professionals stays strong in early 2023. Some of the biggest most recent contributing factors to this include the recent job reports and the US Jobs Report smashing forecast with 517,000 increase and the UK’s FTSE 100 hitting all-time highs.
What are candidates now really after?
One of the biggest trends this year is a major shift towards less turbulent companies and sectors. There is also a big change in the preferred industry, with many candidates moving from major NASDAQ dominating tech firms and venture capital-backed start-ups into more established industries like Investment banking, insurance, oil & gas and utilities. The focus of the candidates is on the global, multinational organisations that can offer wider team collaboration and larger scale global projects.
Despite the changing work environment, candidates' priorities remain largely the same. They are motivated by the work they will be doing, the mission of the team and company, and the size of the problems they will be solving. Career progression is another strong motivation. Candidates are now realising that they do not need to wait for their turn where they are, and how lucrative levelling up at another organization can be for them.
Certain parts of compensation packages are also attracting more attention. Candidates now placing a greater emphasis on both base salary and achievable bonus amounts, as opposed to stocks or restricted stock units or company wide bonuses. This reflects a growing awareness of the value of real pay in light of recent market changes and an ever-increasing cost of living.
WFH vs. in-person
As more companies adopt flexible work arrangements, we are also seeing changes in remote work patterns, with an increasing number of candidates interested in a combination of in-person and remote work. This is far more prevalent in the UK, where more candidates are willing to do 2 days in the office a week, than it is in the US. The focus among the vast majority of US candidates is still fully remote due to reduced commute times, quality of work-life balance and the nature of cyber security. There are now far more options for both types of candidates, and options for those candidates who will change how they WFH or work in the office in the future.
Most in demand skills
The skills in high demand in the cyber security field remain largely unchanged from 2022, with a noticeable decrease in demand for digital forensics and incident response positions due to a reduction in large-scale ransomware attacks.
The following are 5 cyber security skills are highly sought after in the early months of 2023:
1. Network Security
2. Cloud and Infrastructure Security
3. Application Security and Penetration Testing
4. Security Architecture
5. Security Engineering
There is (as there always has been) a real strong demand for those cyber professionals who have the capability of communicating well with both the technical and non-technical parts of an organisation.
The need for security architecture and engineering, as well as strong cyber security budgets and board support, remains present.
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Cyber security in the wake of tech layoffs
The demand for cyber security professionals has remained consistent in recent months, even as the wider technology sector has experienced a wave of cost-cutting layoffs, according to recent data. This presents a positive outlook in an otherwise challenging hiring environment for the tech industry.
The total number of employed cyber security workers in 2022 has remained relatively stable compared to previous projections. However, employers continue to face difficulties filling open cybersecurity roles, with reports indicating that there were close to 80 cyber security workers for every 100 open positions in 2022.
This scarcity of qualified and experienced cyber security talent has effectively shielded the sector from layoffs and cost-cutting measures, demonstrating the resilience of professionals in an uncertain job market. As incidents of hacking and data breaches increase, the demand for cyber security professionals continues to grow, further solidifying their position in the industry.
So what are we hiring for right now?
Currently, we are hiring for a lot of Cyber Security, Security Architects and Enterprise Security Architects in the UK and the US for global clients across investment banking, oil and gas. We are working on several cyber investigations positions with a focus on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime Investigations. We are also supporting several global consulting companies with team builds and growth plans as well as several other global clients.
If you are considering to get a job in the IT sector and would like to have a confidential chat, please feel free to reach out to the writer of this blog, Ed Carr.
See if we have a job that sounds right for you. Please note that not all of our jobs are on our website. So, our best advice is registering after reviewing the jobs.