Workforce shortages set to plague cyber security sector ahead of 2030

Open roles in the cyber security workforce continue to outnumber experienced professionals, a situation unlikely to change before 2028.

New analysis of technology talent trends over 2025 has revealed some worrying news for the cyber security sector, with workforce shortages set to be a burden on the industry through to 2028.

Enterprise intelligence firm Draup’s annual report, The Economics of Skills: An Analysis of Global Tech Talent, isn’t all bad news, however.

According to Draup’s analysts, AI is actually driving job growth, with 78 million roles related to AI and cyber security expected to be added to the workforce this decade.

The growth of dedicated AI and security talent is also expanding regionally, with the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Latin America seeing an expansion of AI data and engineering roles.

“We’re not seeing tech jobs disappear outright, but the way work gets done is certainly changing,” Vishnu Shankar, vice president of data and platform at Draup, said in a statement.

“AI is compressing skill cycles, reshaping roles and shifting where productivity comes from faster than most organisations expect. This goes beyond hiring more or fewer people. It’s about how work actually gets done as AI becomes part of everyday roles.”

But for all signs of positivity, bad news persists.

Not only are cyber security roles going empty, but the technology-based skills that underpin such expertise are quickly becoming obsolete. The half-life of tech skills has dropped to less than two years, with 40 per cent of current training expected to be at least partially out of date by 2027.

And while Draup believes AI will be a net driver of growth, in the short term it most definitely means job losses. Many large technology companies cited a rise in automation as being linked to almost 50,000 job cuts in the United States alone.

“The pace of those automation-driven layoffs has understandably created serious concerns among workers, policymakers and business leaders at the start of the new year about job security, career progression and how quickly roles are changing,” Draup said.

And those roles, and particularly job titles, are changing. Modern companies are just as likely to be looking for builders, orchestrators, and synthesisers over more traditional job titles, according to Draup’s research, reflecting growth in broader, more cross-disciplinary roles.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Cyber Daily.