A new survey conducted by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, also known as (ISC)², found that 50 percent of well-performing organizations surveyed have successfully recruited government cybersecurity talent, and that government employees who leave for the private sector are motivated by better salaries and the promise of great leadership.
“As (ISC)² found in the January 2018 jobseeker study, cybersecurity professionals are less motivated by salary than employer attributes such as taking the work of cybersecurity staff seriously and adhering to a code of ethics,” the report notes. “But the study identified an exception – cybersecurity recruits from government agencies.”
The results of the survey, answered by cybersecurity professionals from 250 organizations in the U.S. with a solid cyber track record, note that 67 percent of government recruits are drawn by salary, 60 percent of recruits are drawn by the promise of great leadership teams, and 59 percent are drawn by a mission-driven organization.
“It’s no secret private companies generally pay better than government agencies, so it stands to reason many recruits from the government would welcome higher pay,” (ISC)² writes.
The importance of a strong cybersecurity culture was also cited among the survey’s findings, with 97 percent of respondents saying that top management understands the importance of strong cybersecurity. Only 18 percent of those surveyed were worried about losing talent to other companies, and 79 percent of respondents had an average tenure over three years.