Commission Recommends Modifications to Federal Cyber Workforce Recruitment

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission is calling for a change in federal cyber hiring and compensation to address a cybersecurity workforce shortage across the public sector.

According to a follow-on report by CSC, the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Personnel Management should work together to modernize coding structures for cybersecurity jobs and set up a team of human resource specialists that specialize in looking for cyber talent. The NCD should also set up a cyber workforce strategy across the federal government, establish a cyber workforce coordinating working group and share workforce-related related data with the OPM.

The report comes as the government struggles to fill tens of thousands of vacant cyber-related positions, FedScoop reported.

To date, there are nearly 600,000 open cybersecurity jobs across the private and public sectors. There are over 1 million individuals employed in cybersecurity-related jobs across the government and private companies.

Since January 2021, the Biden administration has been trying to find ways to improve the hiring of cyber talent across the government. One of the projects under this effort was the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Talent Management System, which has processed its first employee since it was deployed in November.

The recruitment process for cybersecurity personnel was also changed at the departments of Defense and State, as well as other private and public sector organizations.