Number of IT jobs increases after cyberattacks, figures show

Figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) have shown an increase in the number of IT security vacancies following the recent cyber security attacks.

Demand for security jobs was found to be the strongest in sectors that hold sensitive data, such as the accountancy, retail and education sectors.

Increase

The figures showed a 6.2 per cent increase in IT security jobs during the year ending 30th April 2017, with a 40 per cent increase in demand for accountancy jobs. This resulted in the professional services industry seeing the largest increase in vacancies.

The data also showed the regions with the highest increase in IT security vacancies, with Greater London experiencing a year-on-year rise of 12 per cent, accounting for over 50 per cent of vacancies in the UK.

Whilst Yorkshire & Humber saw the highest increase in vacancies at 41 per cent, this only accounted for 5 per cent of job vacancies in the UK in this sector.

Importance

Commenting on the findings, APSCo Chief Executive Ann Swain said: “As the recent WannaCry attacks on the NHS have demonstrated, the importance and profile of IT Security roles has never been greater. Our figures show that IT Security is taking on a life of its own, challenged only by the financial services sector, as it continues to expand.”

She added that this growing trend is backed by the 2017 Annual Global Fraud and Risk Report from Kroll, which showed that 92 per cent of executives in the UK said that their business had suffered a cyber security attack over the past year.