Number of Employed Cybersecurity Professionals (2026)

Millions work in cybersecurity across the globe.

Yet recent data shows signs of growth stagnation, persistent skill shortages, and skewed demographics.

Below, we’ll explore the data in further detail.

Top Cybersecurity Employment Statistics

There are over 1.3 million cybersecurity professionals in the US.
There are around 5.5 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide.
The number of cybersecurity employees grew by just 0.1% between 2023 and 2024.
Almost 40% of cybersecurity managers claim to lack budget.
The US has the world’s largest cybersecurity workforce at nearly 1.3 million employees
Around 2 in 3 organizations are experiencing a cybersecurity staffing shortage.
Approximately 90% of organizations have skills gaps in their cybersecurity setup.
Over 83% of the cybersecurity workforce is male.
Cybersecurity professionals with Master’s degrees can earn over 25% more than their peers.

Number of Workers in Cybersecurity Roles in the US

In 2026, there are an estimated 1,337,400 workers employed in cybersecurity-related jobs in the US.

Source: Cyberseek

How Many Employed Cybersecurity Professionals Are There?

According to the most recent estimates, there are approximately 5.5 million people currently working in cybersecurity worldwide.

That total represents just a 0.1% increase from 2023 (but a 17% increase since 2022).

This slower year-over-year growth shows that we’re seeing a cooling from the sharp expansion seen in 2022, when widespread investment in security teams drove a surge in hiring. Even so, the cybersecurity workforce continues to grow at a pace that outstrips many other technology sectors.

At a high level, demand growth has moderated over the last few years. However, the overall trend line remains pointing upward, with organizations continuing to expand their security capabilities in response to evolving threats, like AI attacks.

Source: ISC2

Global Cybersecurity Workforce Trends

Over the past year, cybersecurity teams have observed a decline in hiring and advancement opportunities.

According to 39% of cybersecurity managers, shortages are most commonly caused by a lack of budget. This has overtaken “replacing a shortage of talent” as the top reason.

Budget cuts have reduced funds further, with over a third of respondents (37%) experiencing cutbacks. That’s an increase of 7% over the previous year.

As a possible ripple effect, 1 in 4 cybersecurity employees have observed layoffs (that’s a 3% increase vs. 2023’s figures).

And on a similar note, 38% have seen hiring paused, and 32% have noted fewer promotions (up 6% in the last 12 months).

As a result, it’s unsurprising that cybersecurity job satisfaction is on the decline.

The proportion of cybersecurity employees who are content with their work has dropped from 74% in 2022 to 70% in 2023, and most recently, 66% in 2024.

Nonetheless, that figure remains higher than the average US job satisfaction rate of 51%.

Sources: ISC2, Pew Research Center

Workforce Shortages & Unfilled Roles

Cybersecurity staffing scarcity remains high, with around 2 in 3 (67%) organizations reporting a shortage. That’s despite a recent dip from 69% in 2022.

An alarming 58% claimed that their organizations are at significant risk as a result of understaffing in cybersecurity, up 1% from 2023.

In total, there is a cybersecurity workforce gap of approximately 4.8 million. That’s a 41% increase on 2022’s 3.4 million and a 20% increase on 2023’s 4 million.

Looking at individual countries, China has the largest reported workforce gap at over 2 million. That figure has increased by 19% since 2023, yet it’s far from the biggest change.

With a 77.9% increase, South Korea has seen the largest widening in the workforce gap, closely followed by Australia (71.3%).

Of the 20 assessed countries, just 5 saw the workforce gap cut. The biggest shift towards satisfying cybersecurity job vacancies occurred in Brazil, with a 7.5% change in the right direction.

Here’s a breakdown of the cybersecurity workforce gap by country:

Country	2023 Workforce Gap	2024 Workforce Gap	Change Over Previous Year
China	1.721 million	2.048 million	↑ 19%
India	790k	1.074 million	↑ 35.9%
US	483k	504k	↑ 4.4%
Brazil	232k	215k	↓ 7.5%
Japan	110k	170k	↑ 53.8%
Germany	105k	120k	↑ 15%
Mexico	116k	114k	↓ 2.1%
UK	73k	93k	↑ 27.1%
Spain	74k	73k	↓ 1.7%
France	59k	69k	↑ 17%
South Africa	57k	63k	↑ 10.1%
Australia	28k	48k	↑ 71.3%
Canada	39k	38k	↓ 1.2%
UAE	32k	35k	↑ 9.7%
South Korea	18k	31k	↑ 77.9%
Netherlands	29k	29k	↓ 1.6%
Saudi Arabia	14k	18k	↑ 26.8%
Nigeria	8k	9k	↑ 5.7%
Ireland	7k	8k	↑ 9.2%
Singapore	4k	5k	↑ 17.7%

Latin America (5.7% drop) is the only region that has experienced a decline in the cybersecurity workforce gap since 2023.

Here’s the cybersecurity workforce gap by region:

Region	2023 Workforce Gap	2024 Workforce Gap	Change Over Previous Year
Asia-Pacific	2.67 million	3.375 million	↑ 26.4%
North America	522k	543k	↑ 4%
Europe	348k	392k	↑ 12.8%
Latin America	348k	328k	↓ 5.7%
Middle East & Africa	112k	125k	↑ 11.8%

Source: ISC2

Cybersecurity Skills Gap

Around 9 in 10 organizations have skills gaps within their cybersecurity setup

According to ICS2, more than one-third (41%) see AI/ML as the most notable skill absent from their team. Cloud computing security (36%) and risk assessment (29%) make up the rest of the top three.

Below is a list of the top skills currently lacking in cybersecurity teams:

Rank	Technical Skill	Proportion of Organizations Lacking Skill
1	AI/ML	41%
2	Cloud computing security	36%
3	Risk assessment	29%
4	Application security	28%
=5	Security engineering and governance	27%
=5	Risk and compliance (GRC)	27%
7	Security analysis	26%
=8	Threat intelligence analysis	24%
=8	Zero trust	24%
=8	Penetration testing	24%

Fortinet also reports that “finding candidates with AI experience in cybersecurity” is the biggest recuiting challenge (60%).

The report also found that 91% of IT recruiters prefer to hire candidates with technology-focused certifications. That’s up from 89% in 2024.

Education has the largest reported skill gap (96%), closely followed by construction (94%) and healthcare (94%).

This is how each industry compares in terms of cybersecurity skills shortages:

Rank	Industry	Total Reported Skill Gap	Critical Reported Skill Gap
1	Education	96%	18%
=2	Construction	94%	20%
=2	Healthcare	94%	20%
4	Real Estate	93%	15%
=5	Nonprofit	92%	16%
=5	Aerospace	92%	19%
=5	Telecommunications	92%	19%
=5	Non-Security Software/Hardware Development	92%	15%
=5	Food/Beverage/Hospitality/Travel	92%	16%
=5	Government	92%	20%
=11	Manufacturing	91%	17%
=11	Energy/Power/Utilities	91%	14%
=11	Insurance	91%	12%
=14	Military/Military Contractor	90%	19%
=14	IT Services	90%	17%
=14	Transportation	90%	17%
=17	Financial Services	88%	13%
=17	Hosted/Cloud Services	88%	12%
=17	Automotive	88%	14%
=20	Retail/Wholesale	87%	17%
=20	Entertainment/Media	87%	17%
=20	Consulting	87%	12%
=20	Engineering	87%	15%
24	Security Software/Hardware Development	84%	13%
25	Legal	83%	11%

Sources: ISC2, ISC2 (2), Fortinet

Valued Cybersecurity Skills

There is a disparity between the skills hiring managers value and the skills cybersecurity professionals think they value.

For example, only 12% of hiring managers are actively seeking AI/ML skills, yet 23% of professionals believe those skills are in demand.

Similarly, only 19% of cybersecurity professionals think curiosity and eagerness to learn are in-demand skills, yet 26% of hiring managers actively seek these soft skills.

Above all else, strong problem-solving abilities are the most sought-after skills, with 31% of hiring managers prioritizing them. Fortunately, cybersecurity professionals are largely aware of it, with 28% agreeing it is in demand.

Here’s how cybersecurity skills are valued by hiring managers compared to professionals:

Cybersecurity Skill	Hiring Managers Seeking Skill	Cybersecurity Professionals Who Think Skill is in Demand
Strong problem-solving abilities	31%	28%
Teamwork and collaboration skills	28%	21%
Curious/eager to learn	26%	19%
Strong communication skills	25%	31%
Cloud computing security	19%	30%
Strong strategic thinking skills	17%	16%
Zero-trust implementation	14%	17%
Security engineering	14%	13%
GRC	13%	19%
Strong project management skills	12%	8%
AI/ML	12%	23%
Security analysis	11%	8%
Time management and organisation	11%	8%
Application security	11%	11%
Security administration	10%	7%
Emotional intelligence	10%	7%
SecOps	8%	10%
ID and access management	8%	9%
Zero trust implementation	8%	14%
Leadership abilities	7%	10%

According to the latest data, 71% of cyber recruiters have formal targets for hiring
from underutilized talent pools.

Sources: ISC2, ISC2 (2), Fortinet

Regional Comparisons

According to the latest figures, the US has the largest active cybersecurity workforce (approximately 1.3 million). That’s despite a 3% drop from the 12 months prior.

In fact, the US still has more cybersecurity employees than the second (Brazil – 752k) and third-largest (Japan – 500k) workforces put together.

Here’s a breakdown of cybersecurity workforce sizes across the globe:

Country	2023 Workforce	2024 Workforce	Change Over Previous Year
US	1.339 million	1.299 million	↓ 3%
Brazil	749k	752k	↑ 0.4%
Japan	481k	500k	↑ 4%
Germany	456k	439k	↓ 3.7%
Mexico	436k	422k	↓ 2.7%
UK	367k	349k	↓ 4.9%
South Korea	264k	273k	↑ 3.3%
France	217k	230k	↑ 6.1%
Spain	182k	188k	↑ 3%
South Africa	178k	197k	↑ 10.7%
Canada	157k	156k	↓ 0.8%
UAE	144k	149k	↑ 3.4%
Australia	139k	146k	↑ 5.5%
Singapore	77k	78k	↑ 1.3%
Netherlands	68k	73k	↑ 8%
Saudi Arabia	54k	60k	↑ 10.9%
Nigeria	26k	26k	↑ 0.2%
Ireland	19k	21k	↑ 5.8%

Together, the Middle East & Africa have seen the largest increase in the cybersecurity workforce (7.4%). The two regions have grown considerably in the space of a year, largely thanks to:

South Africa – 178k to 197k (10.7% increase)
Saudi Arabia – 54k to 60k (10.9% increase)
UAE – 144k to 149k (3.4% increase)

The Asia Pacific region has also seen its cybersecurity workforce increase, while North America, Europe, and Latin America have each seen overall declines.

Here is the cybersecurity workforce split by regions:

Region	2023 Workforce	2024 Workforce	Change Over Previous Year
North America	1.496 million	1.455 million	↓ 2.7%
Europe	1.31 million	1.3 million	↓ 0.7%
Latin America	1.286 million	1.274 million	↓ 0.9%
Asia Pacific	960k	997k	↑ 3.8%
Middle East & Africa	402k	431k	↑ 7.4%

Given the drop-off in cybersecurity employees in the US, it is no surprise to see that demand for cybersecurity talent is also waning.

Recent data from LinkedIn reveals that demand for cybersecurity professionals is down 5.4% year-over-year. That’s almost matched by Singapore (4.9% decrease) and France (4.5% decrease).

However, on the other end of the spectrum, Brazil (11.2% increase), Germany (11% increase), and Poland (6.2% increase) have all experienced greater demand for cybersecurity employees between 2021 and 2024.

Based on the share of job postings, Singapore has the largest concentration of demand, making up almost 5% of all advertised openings. In other words, nearly 1 in 20 cybersecurity job listings on LinkedIn are Singapore-based. That’s more than the UK (2.37%) and the US (2.07%) combined.

This is how the top countries by share of cybersecurity job postings compare:

Country	Share of Cybersecurity Job Postings
Singapore	4.64%
Poland	3.48%
Germany	2.83%
Spain	2.76%
Australia	2.57%
India	2.49%
UK	2.37%
Italy	2.35%
Brazil	2.27%
Mexico	2.14%
Netherlands	2.11%
US	2.07%
Canada	1.89%
France	1.66%

Sources: ISC2, LinkedIn

Demographics: Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Education

Gender

The cybersecurity space remains male-dominated, with only approximately 1 in 6 (16.8%) of the global workforce comprised of women.

Since 2010, the proportion of women in cybersecurity jobs has trended downwards, falling considerably from 26.42%.

Around 1 in 4 (26.7%) cybersecurity professionals in Italy are women – the highest proportion from the assessed countries, just ahead of Singapore (26.2%).

Here’s a look at the proportion of women in the cybersecurity workforce, split by nation:

Country	Share of Women in Cybersecurity Workforce
Italy	26.7%
Singapore	26.2%
Canada	21.2%
India	20.9%
Mexico	19.9%
Brazil	19.7%
Australia	19.1%
US	18.3%
UK	17.9%
Spain	17.5%
Poland	17.2%
France	16%
Netherlands	15.9%
Germany	14.6%

And here’s how the proportion of women in cybersecurity has shifted in the space of a year:

Country	Change in Share of Women in Cybersecurity Workforce
Brazil	4.45%
Poland	3.55%
Germany	3.11%
Netherlands	2.38%
UK	2.34%
France	2.3%
Canada	2.12%
Australia	1.92%
India	1.6%
Italy	1.44%
US	1.22%
Spain	1.04%
Mexico	0.4%
Singapore	0.08%

Interestingly, there is a clear divide between men and women when it comes to specific cybersecurity roles. For instance, informatics nurse specialists, clinical support specialists, and clinical administrators are areas of work dominated by women.

Female-dominated cybersecurity jobs:

Informatics nurse specialists – 87% female
Clinical support specialists – 78% female
Clinical administrators – 77% female

Male-dominated cybersecurity jobs:

Dell certified systems expert – 99% male
Senior data center engineer – 98% male
Software applications architect – 98% male
Cybersecurity specialist – 83% male

Age

The average cybersecurity specialist is 42.4 years old.

There isn’t a significant variance between the average ages for different genders or races.

Nonetheless, the oldest group is white females, who are an average of 47 years old, compared to white males, who average 42 years of age.

At an average of 37 years old, the youngest group is Hispanic/Latino females. That’s 4 years younger than the equivalent male group (41 years old).

The majority (60%) of cybersecurity specialists are over 40 years old. Another approximately 30% are aged 30 to 40. And just 11% are between the ages of 20 and 30.

Ethnicity

Around 2 in 3 (65.7%) cybersecurity professionals are white. That figure has slowly dropped from 76% in 2010, with the field becoming slightly more diverse.

This is how the cybersecurity workforce is split by ethnicity:

Ethnicity	2010 Proportion	Latest Proportion	Change
White	76%	65.7%	↓ 10.3%
Asian	7%	9.6%	↑ 2.6%
Black/African American	8%	9.2%	↑ 1.2%
Hispanic/Latino	6%	9%	↑ 3%
Unknown	–	6.1%	–
American Indian/Alaska Native	–	0.4%	–

Education

A Bachelor’s degree (obtained online or in-person) is the most common type of degree obtained by cybersecurity professionals – over half (56%) of all cybersecurity specialists have one.

In total, 96% of cybersecurity specialists have some form of higher education.

Here’s a breakdown of degree levels within the cybersecurity industry:

Degree	Proportion
Bachelor’s	56%
Associate	23%
Master’s	14%
High School Diploma	4%
Other Degrees	3%

In the US, just under 3 in 4 (72.94%) cybersecurity professionals hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Here’s the proportion of cybersecurity professionals with Bachelor’s degrees:

Country	Share of Transitions into Cybersecurity Jobs by Bachelor’s or Higher Degree Holders
India	85.06%
Singapore	78.8%
Mexico	77.79%
France	73.91%
Canada	73.24%
US	72.94%
Australia	72.41%
Germany	69.3%
Netherlands	68.76%
Brazil	67.54%
Poland	65.35%
Spain	65.28%
UK	64.22%
Italy	62.52%

Sources: Zippa, ISC2, LinkedIn

Pay & Position Disparities

Education

Unsurprisingly, there is a strong correlation between the level of education and wages in cybersecurity.

Those with an Associate’s degree or some form of College degree take home $81,263 every year.

By comparison, professionals with a Bachelor’s degree as their highest form of education earn $93,788 per year, or around 15.4% more.

While cybersecurity specialists with a Master’s degree (both online and in-person) average $102,065 a year, 8.1% more than Bachelor’s degree holders, and 25.6% more than professionals with Associate’s degrees.

And this disparity is likely to widen. In the US, nearly all (94.38%) cybersecurity job openings require a 4-year degree. That figure is nearly 5x higher than any other country.

Here’s a look at the proportion of cybersecurity job postings that do not require a 4-year degree:

Country	Share of Cybersecurity Job Postings Not Requiring a 4-Year Degree
US	5.62%
Mexico	1.06%
Canada	0.94%
Poland	0.78%
Germany	0.55%
Italy	0.54%
India	0.38%
France	0.37%
Australia	0.3%
Singapore	0.29%
UK	0.22%
Netherlands	0.17%

Just under 1 in 3 (31%) organizations have no entry-level professionals working in their security teams.

This figure rises among small businesses, where 36% of organizations with fewer than 500 employees report having no capacity for entry-level cybersecurity staff. In these cases, limited budgets and leaner IT teams often mean that cybersecurity responsibilities are consolidated into existing roles rather than dedicated to new hires.

The absence of entry-level positions in smaller organizations reduces opportunities for new professionals to gain practical experience, which in turn contributes to some of the broader workforce shortages the industry is currently seeing.

Organizations with no entry-level or junior-level professionals within their security team:

Organization Size	No Entry-Level	No Junior-Level
Under 500 Employees	36%	21%
500-5,000 Employees	30%	14%
5,000+ Employees	27%	11%
All Organizations	31%	15%

Gender

There is an estimated 15% gender pay gap in the US. However, in cybersecurity, the difference is less pronounced.

On average, men working in cybersecurity earn $95,889 per annum, averaging around 4.6% more than women ($91,462 per annum).

Ethnicity

There are more notable differences in cybersecurity earnings when it comes to ethnicity.

Asian cybersecurity specialists outearn the rest of the population, averaging just over $100,000 each year. That’s 6.6% more than Black or African American cybersecurity employees ($93,506).

Here’s how cybersecurity wages vary depending on ethnicity:

Ethnicity	Wages
Asian	$100,135
White	$97,753
Hispanic/Latino	$95,522
Black/African American	$93,506
Unknown	$92,724

Sources: Zippa, LinkedIn, Pew Research Centre

Conclusion

Despite employing over 5.5 million professionals globally, the cybersecurity industry continues to face a variety of challenges.

While certain regions have seen workforce growth, overall global hiring momentum is slowing, and job satisfaction is declining.

Without greater investment in talent development, diversity, and equitable access to entry-level roles, growth may continue to stagnate.