Australia’s largest cyber security services company, CyberCX, and cyber security growth network, AustCyber, together with a consortium of partners including Accenture, Burning Glass Technologies and CompTIA, have today announced the Australian launch of CyberSeek – an interactive mapping tool that tracks the state of the Australian cyber security job market in real time and provides data on the talent gap within the sector.
This tool was funded through the AustCyber Projects Fund, which is a $15 million, three-year initiative designed to help the Australian cyber security industry grow and take ideas globally.
These organisations bring together market-leading expertise in workforce analytics, intelligence and career pathway development to provide CyberSeek users with the most relevant data and insights for cyber security professionals and job seekers, employers, educators, policymakers and students.
John Paitaridis, Cyber CX CEO, said “Cyber security workers protect Australia’s most important assets, from critical infrastructure to enterprise intellectual property, through to the personally identifiable information millions of Australians use to access their bank accounts. The dangerous shortage of cyber security workers Australia is facing puts our collective digital privacy and infrastructure at risk. As Australia’s largest cyber security provider, we want to play a leading role in helping build a robust and sustainable skills pipeline to drive the industry into the future.”
Data from the CyberSeek platform shows that in the 12 months to September 2020 there were over 14,000 job openings for dedicated and related cyber security roles in Australia, but a talent pool half the size of the national average for employers to recruit from.
For every job advertised in a cyber security related field in Australia, there are only six cyber security workers in existence in the labour market. The mass migration to remote working has only fuelled the need for more cyber security talent in Australia, with organisations now facing several additional security risks
“Maintaining and broadening efforts to attract and train workers in cyber security expertise will ensure the future quality of Australia's cyber workforce,” said Michelle Price, AustCyber CEO. “Australia has some of the best cyber talent in the world, but we need to expand the supply of talent coming through the pipeline if we are to have a vibrant and globally competitive economy.
“The launch of CyberSeek ensures key enablers are in place to transition workers. This is an invaluable tool which provides information such as the demand for cyber skills by region across Australia, qualification and certification requirements for cyber roles, indicative salaries and transition pathways and role progression.”
CyberSeek uses sophisticated data analysis and aggregation tools developed by Accenture, Burning Glass Technologies and CompTIA to analyse hundreds of millions of job postings and real-life career transitions, providing powerful insights into labour market patterns.
Toby Brennan, Director of Strategy at Accenture, said “Demand for cyber skills is already strong and will only increase in the coming years, so it’s important Australia captures this critical economic opportunity. The importance of technology on our economy has created urgent need for organisations to rapidly adopt secure digital tools. We need to build a skilled workforce that understands the future environment.”
The CyberSeek platform was first piloted in the USA by Burning Glass Technologies and CompTIA, where it has revolutionised how the cyber security job market is understood by people at every stage of their career journey. Based on the National Initiative for Cyber Education – a framework that provides common definitions on cyber roles and workers – the data provides valuable intelligence to policy makers about the supply and demand of cyber security professionals across the country.
“The global pandemic underscores the critical importance of organisational and workforce resilience,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO, CompTIA. “Proactively preparing for the next crisis starts with cyber readiness and furthering our commitment to expanding Australia’s trained and certified tech workforce.”
CyberSeek features include an interactive heatmap of cyber security supply and demand, an interactive career pathway tool which highlights the key transition opportunities between common roles, and a certification and skills guide which calls out the credentials typically required for those roles.
