AustCyber and CyberCX have built a new online tool to help job seekers and employers visualise the current skills supply problem facing the Australian cyber security industry.
By integrating job listing, certification, and employment data, CyberSeek gives an overview of the cyber workforce which again shows a national shortage of cyber professionals.
The data shows an average of six existing workers for each job opening in cyber security across the country – much lower than the average 13 workers for all job types in Australia.
A lack of Australians with cyber expertise has long been an issue for the country with the government this month dedicating $26.5 million toward improving our cyber skills.
CEO of CyberCX, John Paitaridis, said the shortage of cyber security professionals was alarming.
“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,” he said.
“The dangerous shortage of cyber security workers Australia is facing puts our collective digital privacy and infrastructure at risk.”
CyberSeek shows the most populous states – Victoria and NSW – unsurprisingly have the largest number of cyber security jobs available, but also that the ACT has both the highest concentration of demand for cyber experts and the lowest supply with just over two cyber professionals working in the nation’s capital for every job posting.
The online tool also offers a look at potential career pathways in cyber security, matching skills and certifications with their relevant job titles as well as showing the career growth from entry-level positions through to advanced jobs, along with each job title’s associated demand.
Interestingly, CyberSeek has put advanced-level ‘cyber security engineer’ as the industry’s most needed job, ahead of the mid-level analyst and consultancy roles while entry-level jobs are comparatively less in-demand.
Michelle Price, CEO of AustCyber – which celebrated a merger with Stone & Chalk this week – said the information provided by CyberSeek will help people as they transition into and through the cyber security industry.
“Maintaining and broadening efforts to attract and train workers in cyber security expertise will ensure the future quality of Australia's cyber workforce,” said Price said.
“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.”
If you are considering a switch to cyber security, CyberSeek gives a decent overview of how certain skillsets fit into the many similar-sounding job titles.
Your interest in Linux, for example, makes you suited to a job in incident analysis and response, whereas pre-existing experience with risk assessment would be relevant in a security intelligence or IT auditor role.
These potential career paths are also matched with certifications for those considering upskilling.
CyberSeek was developed using money from AustCyber’s Projects Fund.
