Cybersecurity Professionals Starting To Demand Higher Salaries

With the demand continuing to far exceed the supply of cybersecurity professionals, workers are understanding their true value and asking for higher pay.

Employers worldwide, especially in the United States are still on the hunt to hire qualified cybersecurity professionals. As the technological world continues to advance and more organizations become increasingly reliant on computer software, the need for protection also grows.

The demand for cybersecurity professionals is currently very high. According to a survey by Cybersecurity Ventures, there was a shortage of over three million cybersecurity professionals worldwide in 2019.

Qualified cybersecurity professionals are becoming more aware of the steady high demand for their critical services.

And they are beginning to act on it.

As they are realizing the true value they provide to companies everywhere, cybersecurity professionals are asking to be properly compensated for it.

In one case, an applicant for a cybersecurity position agreed to only accept the position at the salary equivalent to the hiring manager for the entire IT department.

Some employers agree to such high demands while others are taking different paths.

In another case, Stephane Tournadre, the chief information security officer for a drug company based out of France, Laboratoiries Servier, advertised the company’s open cybersecurity position internally. Although Tournadre understood they would not get properly qualified applicants, their strategy was to hire employees already committed to the company and simply train them in the job responsibilities of a cybersecurity professional – a risky approach. The level of risk being taken is symbolic to the level of desperation employers are becoming – a testament to the demand for cybersecurity professionals.

Later that year, the company expanded on their need to retain the internally trained cybersecurity employees by boosting their annual pay increase. It was reported that the rest of the company employees received pay increases to match the inflation rate. However, the cybersecurity employees were reportedly given double that amount.

In a statement made by Tournadre, he said, “We couldn’t afford to have more people leaving than entering. It was more a preventive action.”

Another action some companies are taking to find and recruit more cybersecurity applicants are to drop degree requirements and pursue those who demonstrate they have the knowledge to be effective, regardless of professional experience, age, background, etc.

In addition to dropping college degree requirements, some employers are limiting the amount of ‘necessary skills’ on their job postings. The strategy is to attract more applicants who might otherwise not apply if they did not meet a specific requirement.

Other employers are fully accepting the demands cybersecurity applicants are asking for and paying them the full requested amount.

Demand Still Outpacing Supply

Despite the creative methods employers are trying to use to attract cybersecurity professionals at what they consider “a reasonable salary”, the demand continues to outpace the supply.

In 2019, there were approximately three million vacant cybersecurity positions. In 2022, the vacancies have risen to 3.4 million.

This is all while the salary increase for a cybersecurity professional has risen 14% in 2022 and 15% in 2021.

The message is clear, and the numbers don’t lie.

Current cybersecurity professionals have virtually ALL the leverage when it comes to demands, which aren’t always monetary.

Some cybersecurity professionals are asking for other benefits of value, such as the ability to work from home, a hybrid position, less hours per week and so on.

It doesn’t matter if companies are willing to risk everything by hiring untrained staff. The need for cybersecurity professionals is high, as shown in the vacancy numbers.

Where Are You?

Are you in a powerful position of leverage? Have you been training in learning the cybersecurity profession?

If you are on the sidelines and only considering getting into the cybersecurity profession, you are holding yourself back from one of history’s highest demands for any one single profession.

But it is still early in the game to get involved. Cybersecurity as a profession is here to stay. Between the job security, the lucrative pay and benefits and the unlimited potential for advancement, the sky is the limit.

And that is exactly why we created Haiku.

We recognized early on where companies are heading in regard to the need for cybersecurity professionals. We understand that formal college degrees are dated requirements for finding qualified cybersecurity professionals. Secondly, we want to ensure our users are proficiently trained by using a gamified experience – the teaching method of the future.

It all amounts to giving employers what they need – a workforce of people who actually know what they’re doing. And employers are paying a premium for this.

And it’s something we can help you with. – Haiku