A staggering 278.1% of additional cybersecurity professionals will be needed to meet demand, as the workforce gap has risen 23.4% to 2.7 million in APAC. The 2023 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study also highlights that the cybersecurity workforce gap has reached a record high, with 4 million professionals needed to adequately protect systems from cyber threats.
ISC2 estimates the global cybersecurity workforce has reached 5.5 million people, an 8.7% increase from the previous year, representing 440,000 new jobs. In Asia-Pacific (APAC), the cybersecurity workforce has increased by 12% to 960,231, the highest workforce ISC2 has ever recorded.
Challenges
The challenges facing cybersecurity professionals include workforce and skills gaps, economic uncertainty, and emerging technologies.
"While we celebrate the record number of new cybersecurity professionals entering the field, the pressing reality is that we must double this workforce, even more so in APAC, to adequately protect organisations and their critical assets,” said ISC2 CEO Clar Rosso, CC.
Empowering cybersecurity professionals
Respondents say their organisations are investing in staff training (72%), offering flexible work conditions (69%), funding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs (68%), supporting certifications (67%), and expanding their teams by recruiting, hiring and onboarding new staff (67%) to prevent or mitigate staff shortages.
Organisations are also fostering diversity and inclusion in their hiring practices, as well as hiring for non-technical skills such as problem-solving skills (45%), curiosity and eagerness to learn (39%), and effective communication (38%).