Amid tech layoffs, cybersecurity jobs are on the rise because ‘hackers don’t stop’

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Mollie Breen was in the third grade on 9/11 – a moment in history that she credits with solidifying her resolve to work in security.

The Virginia native went on to study mathematics at Duke University and landed a job at the National Security Agency, spending four years at the Department of Defence agency before founding cybersecurity startup Perygee.

Breen’s career mirrors the explosive growth of the field of cybersecurity in recent years, which grew 35x between 2004 and 2017 and is poised to become a $1.75 trillion market by 2025. That growth is also reflected in LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise list. Security and data privacy roles feature among the fastest-growing roles of the past five years – not only in the U.S., but across 17 other countries.

While the title ‘data governance manager' ranks ninth on the U.S. list this year, titles like ‘cyber security manager’ and ‘cyber security engineer’ are abundant from Australia to France. (To be sure, cybersecurity is an umbrella term used for a variety of specialties like data governance, privacy and compliance, which are increasingly starting to merge.)

It’s not hard to see why. Despite a softening economy, the field of cybersecurity has been relatively unscathed – and strong economic tailwinds are backing its rising popularity.

Data, the cloud and remote work are fueling the rise of cybersecurity

While the phrase “data is the new oil” has been feverishly overused since British mathematician Clive Humby coined it in 2006, it helps explain the growth of cybersecurity-related professions.

Companies of all sizes increasingly rely on data to drive their businesses forward, and so that data becomes yet another asset that they need to store and safeguard properly. On top of that, they are facing a growing number of data privacy regulations. This is complicated by the transition to cloud computing, which adds a layer of vulnerability.

Further, the shift to remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and an acceleration in the number of cyber attacks have put cybersecurity top-of-mind for leaders across business and government.

“Computing has completely changed over the last decade and gone from on-premise to cloud,” Matthew Kinsella, managing director at Maverick Ventures, told me in a recent edition of #VCWednesdays. “That has opened up gaps, which can get attacked and need to be protected against.”

With cyber attacks only intensifying in scale and scope, the cyber job market is expected to continue to thrive. Worldwide, there are about 3.5 million open cybersecurity jobs, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. And the number of U.S. cybersecurity jobs will grow by 35% between 2021 and 2031, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Frank Scarpelli, managing partner at the cybersecurity-focused recruiting firm HireWerx, said that he’s seen the demand for cybersecurity professionals continue to grow, estimating a three-fold increase in demand over the past three years.

And even as funding to cybersecurity startups has slipped by a third in 2022, there’s still opportunity for founders who are able to communicate their company’s value in a fast-changing environment, said Breen. Perygee raised $4.75 million in seed funding in October 2022.

“Hackers don’t stop just because the Dow dropped a few points,” she said. “Cybersecurity is a resilient industry – and at least our investors are telling us that ‘we’re open for business.’”

Cybersecurity professionals can come from anywhere

While some, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, say that formal education is needed to break into the field, others believe that aspirants can get their foot in the door through self-study and bootcamps or certifications.

But what’s more valuable are soft skills like problem solving and critical thinking, which more than half of cybersecurity professionals surveyed in a recent report by ISACA, the international professional association focused on IT governance, cited as the top skills gap in cybersecurity.

As the demand for cybersecurity talent continues to outweigh the supply, the barrier to entry will only get lower, said HireWerx’s Scarpelli.

“Continued pressure to hire will force more flexibility with regard to job requirements,” the recruiter said.

Even so, some backgrounds can be particularly helpful in transitioning into a cybersecurity career – for instance, having military experience or an infrastructure engineering background, especially as unexpected cutbacks sweep through the tech sector, experts said.

Professionals find cybersecurity exciting because it’s a relatively nascent and fast-evolving field, where curious people can carve out a niche for themselves, said Lisa Bock, a retired professor and ethical hacking expert. The job can change from day to day as new threats emerge seemingly out of nowhere, Garrett Rook, IT security engineer at Idahoan Foods, commented on this post.

“You can craft any job in cybersecurity that you want today, from security to forensics and ethical hacking to cyber-ops,” said Bock. “The playing field is so vast. You just need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

One such uncomfortable reality that poses a challenge for the industry is the current macroeconomic climate, which is prompting worries of security budget cuts – and security incidents snowballing into major breaches.

“Due to economic reasons, companies try to do a lot with less staff,” commented Mustafa Tosun, AP operations manager at TMSA Public Charter Schools. “However, this increases workload, so the error rate increases.”

Another challenge is simply keeping up with the plethora of threats, which are constantly evolving. That can lead to decision paralysis when companies don’t know what to prioritize, said Bock.

At the end of the day, what will get you ahead is being experimental and never becoming complacent, said Perygee’s Breen.

“Cyber attacks are like weather – you cannot predict them,” she said. “There’s no such thing as being 100% secure.”

Click here to read what others in the cybersecurity community are saying about the industry's opportunities and challenges.