By 2021, it’s estimated that more than 4 million job openings in cybersecurity will be unfilled. With the talent shortage continuing to widen, the industry’s band-aid approach to security and IT talent and skill development is no longer acceptable. A skills gap survey from Cybrary of more than 800 security and IT professionals was conducted in order to shed light on this pressing issue and offer recommendations on how to bridge the ever-growing skills gap.

The survey found:

• 68% of respondents said they have to invest their own free time - either before and after work or on the weekends - to improve their cyber skills
• Over the past year, 38% of respondents said their organization either decreased their training budget or had no training budget at all
• 72% of respondents admitted that skills gaps exist on their current teams and 65% agreed that these skills gaps have a negative impact on their team’s effectiveness
• Cost (33%) and lack of time (28%) are the main barriers preventing security & IT pros from getting the skills development training they need

"Given the overwhelming number of respondents who recognized a skills gap on their team and acknowledged that this is hurting their respective teams and organizations, the time to act is now," Ryan Corey, CEO, Cybrary told Security. "Industry professionals shouldn’t have to prioritize career development during the majority of their free time, but rather organizations should find ways to support their employees’ career development and growth. By acknowledging the challenges involved in this battle, empowering team members to learn on the job, reevaluating training solution investments, and adopting the skills growth mindset as a key business priority and incorporating it into an organization’s culture, the industry will finally have a chance to curb the numbers in the opposite direction.”