October 23, 2015
Recent high profile data breaches including Sony Pictures, Ashley Madison, and JP Morgan, which led to huge financial loss, claimed the heads of senior executives, damaged the public standing of these companies, and has ultimately elevated cyber security to the top of the boardroom agenda.
The result is an increased demand for cyber security expertise, which is in short supply. Part of this can be attributed to a lack of STEM skills nationwide: while these courses are well-funded (and more students are enrolling every year), universities are still not producing enough business-ready graduates to satisfy the rapidly expanding demand for cyber security skills. Longer term, governments and schools should do more to approach this problem from Key Stage through to college and A-Level. To treat STEM – and computer science in particular – as a priority subject from an early stage is imperative.
In the interim, however, companies are looking at industry to find the skills they need, but this takes time. And with so many companies competing for the same candidates, this can be difficult and expensive. In the immediate future, and until it is built into the curriculum, companies must look elsewhere to find the candidates they need.