Cybersecurity jobs remain secure, despite recession fears

Cybersecurity professionals will likely weather an economic downturn better than most other workers, as corporate executives worry that a recession could bring an increase in cyberattacks and acknowledge the difficulty in hiring knowledgeable workers, according to a new study by (ISC)², a cybersecurity certification group.

The survey of 1,000 nontechnical C-level business leaders found that companies are more likely to cut employees in human resources, finance, and operations, and least likely to cut in cybersecurity, IT, and operations.

The reasons are pretty clear: 87% of executives thought a reduction in their cybersecurity team would increase their business risk, and 80% believed that economic troubles will lead to more cyber threats.

The results suggest that even non-technical executives have increased the priority of cybersecurity, says Clar Rosso, CEO of (ISC)².

“In the workforce study every year, we’re talking to cybersecurity professionals, so we know what they think,” she says. “Now we see that organizational leaders are saying that [cybersecurity professionals] are on the bottom of our list to cut, and they’re on the top of our list if we need to hire back.”

Economists still widely expect a recession in 2023, despite strong job data and the Federal Reserve’s continued efforts to increase interest rates and reduce money supply. In December, a Bloomberg poll showed economists predicted a 70% chance of a recession, and in January, a Wall Street Journal poll of economists suggested a 61% chance of a recession.

Yet, with annual inflation remaining above 4% for the past 22 months, companies have already started taking steps to prepare for an economic downturn, including staff reductions. In the cybersecurity industry, for example, more than 55 vendors have already laid off workers, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Cybersecurity Gigs Are Resilient

The (ISC)2 survey suggests that most layoffs are not cybersecurity or IT jobs, but administration and support. In cybersecurity, only 31% of companies expect to reduce their cybersecurity workforce if the economy declines, while 51% will prioritize reinvestment in cybersecurity if the economy improves, according to the survey.

The spread between the two sentiments is the highest for cybersecurity among all business units, with IT teams coming in second place, facing a 35% expectation of a reduction in bad times and 49% expectation of reinvestment in good times. Human resources and sales are the most at risk, with 44% and 41% of executives indicating they will lay off HR and sales staff in bad times, respectively, while 29% and 30% will prioritize the reinvestment in those departments if the economy improves.

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