While layoffs haven’t dominated the headlines in 2024 quite like they did in 2022 and 2023, turbulence around hiring is still being felt in the tech industry.
This is due to many factors including post-Covid restructuring and the fact that 80 percent of tech companies failed to meet their sales targets and projected revenues in 2022 and 2023.
So what can savvy tech workers looking to futureproof their relevance and longevity do to guarantee gainful employment? Pivot to one of the areas that is in growth and in need of skilled professionals.
Growth sectors
Although AI has been dominating the conversation with companies and workers alike scrambling to get up to speed with AI tools for fear of being left behind, the area of cybersecurity is also one to watch.
According to an analysis conducted by Mordor Intelligence, the U.S. cybersecurity market size is expected to grow from $85.79 billion in 2024 to $126.57 billion by 2029, an increase of 8.09 percent CAGR.
This expansion can be attributed to the growing sophistication of cyber attacks and the sheer volume of cybersecurity breaches, thanks in part to our increased dependency on digital technologies that might not be as secure as they need to be.
“The current shortage in cybersecurity professionals is a complex issue driven by several key factors,” suggests Jeremy Broome, senior vice president of global talent at Visa.
“As a general trend, talent across the board is choosing to enter the workforce without a traditional four-year degree. While we’re seeing a decrease in degreed cybersecurity talent, the industry is also seeing an increase in cyberattacks.
“As such, it’s critical for organizations to invest in training and development, and work towards increasing diversity within the industry, including shifting our views on what the standard cybersecurity professional’s credentials look like.”
Broome highlights that when it comes to the payments industry in particular, a shortage in payments cybersecurity talent to help mitigate and stop attacks can have several significant consequences for companies.
These include increased vulnerability, slower response time, increased employee workload and burnout, difficulty in keeping up with technological trends, and potential financial loss.
To put this into perspective, in 2022, Visa’s real-time monitoring with AI blocked over $4.2 billion in fraudulent payments and these AI-enabled capabilities work alongside always-on experts to protect their ecosystem, proactively detecting and preventing billions of dollars of attempted fraud.
As a result, the company has launched the Visa Payments Learning Program, which offers training to multifaceted talent, including people returning to the workforce, early-in-career, career changers, and military veterans among others.
“To mitigate these risks, it’s imperative to invest in broadening talent pathways and retaining strong talent,” Broome says.
Ready to make your move into a cybersecurity-focused role? Head over to the Interesting Engineering Job Board where you can find thousands of open roles, such as the three below.
Cyber SME, SAIC, Arlington
Are you a cyber subject matter expert with a strong knowledge of cultural, social, and political environments relating to cyber and virtual environments? SAIC is hiring a Cyber SME to join the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community in protecting national security. In this role, you will identify trends, patterns of activity, and opportunities for action in support of threat-mitigation activities in both the cyber and real-world domains. You should also have a knowledge of cryptocurrency, and the dark/deep web, and be able to prepare information and tactical intelligence reports. Find more information here.
Cyber Security Engineer, Consumer Cellular, Scottsdale
As a Cyber Security Engineer, you will play a crucial role in the cybersecurity team, focusing on safeguarding internal and external systems. Your expertise in various areas of cybersecurity will help maintain and enhance the company’s security posture and you will be responsible for implementing, managing, and improving security solutions that protect infrastructure and data, ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices. As such you will need to design, implement, and manage security measures and troubleshoot security infrastructure devices. See the full job description here.
Product Cybersecurity Engineer, SciTec, Boulder
SciTec has been awarded multiple government contracts and as a result, is growing its team. It has an immediate opportunity for a talented Product Cybersecurity Engineer to support the development of next-generation missile warning systems. Your responsibilities will include evaluating customer cybersecurity requirements and identifying technical and procedural measures to address those requirements, implementing, documenting, and validating cybersecurity controls, and providing input to software product design to improve product hardening. Interested? Apply here.
