April 24, 2023

According to new surveys, recent layoffs in the tech industry have left cybersecurity experts fatigued and overworked, with many expressing a desire to quit their employment. Before the layoffs, the cybersecurity business in the United States was already experiencing a labor shortage, with security defenders stretched thin after years of reacting to assaults.

According to Cobalt, 77% of security professionals reported layoffs in the preceding six months, while 40% of firms plan to eliminate security employees this year, according to HackerOne.

The pandemic’s economic conditions have pushed boards to more strictly review their budgets, prompting some businesses to lay off security personnel and outsource their duties to third-party providers. According to the Cobalt, half of workers affected by layoffs now want to quit their employment. Furthermore, 61% of cyber professionals surveyed claimed they are burned out, up from 58% in last year’s Cobalt research.

Companies are leaving more unpatched, hackable weaknesses in their systems due to shrinking security expenditures and labor headcounts. The circumstance is causing the surviving employees to have more tasks added to their to-do list, making it tough to complete everything.

Despite the layoffs, there is still a great need for cybersecurity expertise. According to Cyberseek, there are over 755,000 cyber job opportunities in the United States, and the federal government is also looking to hire cyber expertise.

The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.