Cyber security to face a skills shortages in the Irish market

We look at theRobert Walters 2019 European Salary Survey and discuss recruitment trends and salary developments in Ireland.

The recruitment market in 2018 was busy across all areas of information security and IT risk. The sector as a whole faced a European-wide skills shortage, which meant that networking and market knowledge remained crucial to the recruitment process.

We saw increased hires at the junior end of the market, with focus on relevant degrees, one to three years’ work experience and specific technical skills. Roles at the senior end of the market were focused around ISOs, heads of information security, security architects and senior IT risk, all requiring candidates with high levels of technical and management skills.

Top skills in demand were security monitoring, vulnerability management, threat hunting and technical project management.

In 2019, we expect the market to be increasingly candidate led, with more importance being placed on the relationship between the external recruiter and internal talent acquisition and HR teams.

The interim/contract market is certainly growing, and we expect to see this develop further as organisations implement more security-focused projects.

Areas such as Security Operations Centre (SOC), security architecture and forensics saw substantial pay increases, with instances of 20% inflation on salaries. Salaries in financial services led the way, with large consultancy firms losing significant talent to large corporations in the financial services field.

Companies will need to move quickly when dealing with topcalibre candidates in 2019 as they will be involved in multiple processes. In 2019, organisations with rigid pay structures and less attractive packages struggled to recruit talent. Companies will need to focus more on training graduates or juniors to fill gaps rather than being reactive to any vacancies.

Salaries will continue to increase across the board for professionals within cyber security, information security and IT risk. Candidates who are not being challenged, up-skilled or trained in new technology will move roles every one to three years.

The market will continue to speed up hiring processes, with the average recruitment process in information security and IT risk taking as little as three weeks.

OUR CYBER SECURITY & IT RISK DIVISION

Established in October 2017, our cyber security & IT risk division has experienced rapid growth within the market and continues to develop outstanding relationships with our candidates and clients in Dublin and across Ireland.  We work with global leaders in banking, insurance, consultancy and technology, and also with start-ups and Irish semi-state organisations. 

We recruit for the following roles: 

• Security Analyst
• Security Engineer
• Security Architect
• Head of IT Risk
• Information Security Officer (ISO)
• SOC Analyst
• Security Delivery Manager
• Head of Technology Risk

Contact us

To discuss any of your recruitment needs, please contact one of our experienced consultants on dublin@robertwalters.com or 01 633 4111.