The demand for talented Cloud Security and Application Security Engineers is growing, as the cyber security industry is scrambling to find qualified Cloud Security Engineers.

This isn’t surprising considering the fact that CISOs rely on the support of talented individuals to perform cloud security monitoring, engineering, risk analysis and other tasks to prevent potential hackers from taking business critical sensitive information.

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau reported that the projected a 28% change in the employment for cybersecurity positions between 2016 – 2026; whereas the average for other occupations is at 7%.

With digital transformation and the increasing growth of cloud applications and services, organizations are searching for skilled Security Engineers with strategic, creative and analytic skills; to find commonalities and anomalies out side of the standard box.

Here are 3 ways organizations are tackling the cloud security talent shortage.

1. Update Hiring Methods – traditional hiring methods don’t work – Engage passive talent in advance. Passive candidates who are not actively seeking new opportunities, can take time to engage than an active candidate whose ‘open to new opportunities. Unfortunately, this passive talent pool is where you’re most likely to find the individuals with the skill set you need. Proactive recruitment is all about relationship building and understanding the market you are recruiting from before the need arises.
2. Increasing Morale by Developing Team’s Technical Skills – Cloud security team continues to grow and the longer a vacancy is open, the more likely your current staff will be working overtime to cover the workload. One of the biggest causes of staff turnover is burn out. Instead, build development programs to fill the talent and skills gap in your team.
3. Construct a Sustainable Cloud Security Workforce – Organizations are establishing strategic ideas to lay the groundwork for a sturdy cloud security workforce and a healthy passive candidate pipeline. Organizations are bringing in the appropriate cloud security talent and vendors, who align with their organization’s cloud security objectives, to supplement their workload and talent gap.