Articles about skills gap

A new survey of 4,000 knowledge workers across the UK, US, Germany, and Canada reveals that higher earners have disproportionate access to the latest AI tools and training, allowing them to reap AI's promised rewards.

In contrast, the study from The Adaptavist Group reveals that lower earners and women are being shut out from AI opportunities, which impacts their skill development, job satisfaction, and time savings, both personally and professionally.

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A new cybersecurity leadership survey from ISC2 shows 85 percent of all respondents identify communication as the most important leadership quality, followed by strategic thinking (41 percent), open-mindedness (37 percent), technical expertise (33 percent) and decisiveness (21 percent).

However, the findings reveal that formal leadership training remains largely inaccessible for most respondents, with fewer than 63 percent reporting they have received such formal training. Instead, 81 percent say they primarily developed leadership skills through on-the-job experiences with supervisors and managers.

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When it comes to adopting new technologies, the legal sector has traditionally been more cautious than other industries. However, AI’s potential to transform legal workflows and unlock new levels of productivity is difficult to ignore. In fact, the industry is moving at speed: a recent study shows almost three quarters (73 percent) of legal practitioners plan to utilize AI in their legal work within the next year.

On a practical level, AI is evolving so quickly that across many practices, employees have varying levels of knowledge and understanding of how AI works, what tasks they should be using it for and the legal implications of using it. At the same time, if firms introduce AI solutions that require deep technical knowledge to use, skills gaps could become increasingly problematic.

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Effective cyber risk management is more crucial than ever for organizations across all industries as threat actors are constantly evolving their tactics. Yet, the latest Cyber Risk Peer Benchmarking Report from Critical Start unveils a striking dichotomy between strategy and execution in cyber risk management. While 91 percent of organizations acknowledge the criticality of having a robust risk management strategy, the execution of these strategies appear to fall short.

This gap between cyber risk strategy and execution widens as organizations grow larger. To fully comprehend an organization’s risk and executive strategies effectively, IT leaders must first understand the lifecycle of cyber risk and ensure each stage is addressed.

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New research from ISC2 shows that growth of the global cyber workforce has stalled at 5.5 million, but an estimated 10.2 million professionals are needed to effectively secure organizations.

This 4.8 million gap represents a 19 percent year-on-year increase. The survey of almost 16,000 cybersecurity practitioners and decision-makers globally shows that for the first time, participants cite 'lack of budget' as the top cause of their staffing shortages.

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Decision-makers are increasingly relying on data analytics to inform everything from market strategies to operational efficiencies. S&P Market Intelligence 451 Research’s global survey of 2,362 executives working at small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) cites a greater appreciation for the value of data among organizations that have historically tended not to invest as heavily in tools and platforms that maximize the business value of the data collected.

And while large enterprises continue to invest in technology and staff to glean data findings, small- to medium-sized businesses can struggle to extract the full value from their data investments. The root of this issue often lies in the composition of their IT teams. small- to medium-sized businesses frequently employ IT generalists who, while skilled in various aspects of technology, may lack the deep expertise required to manage data effectively. This gap in specialized knowledge can prevent businesses from fully leveraging their data assets.

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Information technology leaders have long struggled to close a persistent skills gap, especially since the largescale shift to hybrid workforces and remote employees during the pandemic. To address the growing talent shortfall, many IT leaders are taking a strategic automation approach to outsource more IT functions. The use of automation can lighten the load to free up technicians for other pursuits such as streamlining network operations or learning new skills.

Auvik’s recent IT Trends 2024: Industry Report found that managed service providers (MSPs) and internal IT departments are deploying more automated systems today to address their staff shortages and resource constraints. Despite making some progress, nearly one-third of network and SaaS-related management tasks are still being done manually (29 percent), and 11 percent of IT professionals still perform their network documentation tasks completely manually.

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The cybersecurity workforce grew in 2023 to a record high of 5.5 million people, but the demand for skills is still outpacing growth.

A new guide from the UK's Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) and ISC2 shows that globally, the cyber skills gap grew by 12.6 percent last year, with four million additional workers needed to fill the void, making recruitment more important than ever.

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With cyber threats on the rise, organizations across industries are scrambling to fortify their defenses and safeguard sensitive data. However, a significant obstacle stands in the way: the widening skills gap in cybersecurity.

According to ISC2's latest Cybersecurity Workforce Study, the worldwide cybersecurity workforce shortage has reached a new high, nearing 4 million, despite a 10 percent growth in the workforce over the past year. The gap between supply and demand has surged by 12.6 percent annually, driven by factors like economic uncertainties, AI, and a complex threat landscape. 

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One-in-three IT leaders say they are struggling with finding qualified AI and ML talent, and while these are the biggest areas of focus, 43 percent rate their teams' AI and ML skill sets as low.

A new study from Skillsoft of more that 5,700 IT professionals finds skill development is a critical piece of the puzzle for building a competitive organization, though more work is needed to optimise training among technology teams.

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The UK cybersecurity workforce gap has reached a record high, with 73,439 professionals needed to adequately safeguard digital assets, representing a 29.3 percent increase over 2022.

Research by security professionals organization ISC2 shows the UK cybersecurity workforce has reached 367,300 people, an 8.3 percent increase from 2022, representing more than 28,000 new jobs.

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A new study of over 800 IT professionals across the US, UK and Germany finds that 72 percent of mid-size companies report a lack of cloud management skills as being a barrier to their growth.

The study from Parallels finds 64 percent of respondents have already implemented a hybrid approach, and 38 percent of all respondents plan to further embrace a hybrid cloud approach in the next year.

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A new report finds 86 percent CISOs are turning to generative AI in order to alleviate skills gaps and talent shortages on the security team, filling labor-intensive and time-consuming security functions and freeing up security professionals to be more strategic.

The study from Splunk shows 35 percent are using generative AI for positive security applications and 61 percent say they will likely use it within the next 12 months. On the other side of the coin 70 percent believe that generative AI could give cyber adversaries more opportunities to commit attacks

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In the race towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution, organizations are embracing technologies that enhance connectivity and streamline processes. While rapid digitalization has helped businesses thrive and stay afloat during a turbulent last few years, it has also opened the door to increased vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit.

This increased exposure comes at a time when cybersecurity threats worldwide continue to increase at an alarming rate. According to the latest Blackberry Global Threat Intelligence Report, the number of unique attacks using new malware samples skyrocketed by 50 percent from December 2022 to February 2023, with up to 12 attacks per-minute observed. In the UK, where cybersecurity has been identified as a Tier 1 threat alongside terrorism, war and natural disasters, 32 percent of businesses have reported a breach or attack during the last 12 months.

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We hear a lot about the cybersecurity skills gap, which the latest research puts at 3.4 million globally. There are lots of reasons why organizations find themselves dealing with a skills deficit -- from an actual dearth of qualified talent to internal factors including turnover, lack of budget/competitive wages, limited opportunities for growth and promotion, and lack of training. 

One aspect that is within a company’s control, but is often unremarked, is unrealistic hiring practices. While this can be a problem across all sectors -- after all, every business wants to be sure they get highly experienced people on board -- there seems to be a particular issue around cybersecurity hiring. 

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