Air Force Working to Address Cyber Talent Hiring and Retention Challenges

Venice Goodwine, the chief information officer for the Department of the Air Force, said recruiting talented individuals to join the Cyber Excepted Service is a priority for her organization.

Speaking at the annual DAF Information Technology and Cyberpower conference, Goodwine shared that the department started offering salaries similar to what the private sector provides to attract cyber talent.

Retaining cyber professionals, however, is another challenge for the Air Force. According to the CIO, the department is considering updating its talent management approach to provide personnel who left CES for private sector work a way to return to government service, DefenseScoop reported.

CES is an enterprise-wide approach for managing civilian cyber professionals across the Department of Defense. Congress, in 2016, authorized the Pentagon to implement the personnel management system, which offers flexibility for the recruitment, retention and development of cyber professionals.

According to CyberSeek, an interactive resource for cybersecurity career information, there are nearly 14,000 open cyber roles at the federal and state public sector levels, based on online job listings for cybersecurity-related positions from May 2022 through April 2023.