The White House recently released its National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES). The comprehensive strategy is aimed at addressing both immediate and long-term cyber workforce needs. This includes the adoption of a skills-based approach to talent recruitment and development.
An array of stakeholders across education, government, and industry have committed to the strategy, including Lightcast. We will issue quarterly assessments of the cybersecurity talent gap and produce a skills-based hiring toolkit for employers.
Lightcast has extensive experience and expertise in the cyber workforce arena. Will Markow, vice president of applied research at Lightcast, recently testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection regarding growing the national cybersecurity talent pipeline. Additionally, Lightcast is a partner and data provider for CyberSeek™, an interactive portal that provides supply and demand data on the cybersecurity job market and career pathways.
One of the major benefits of visualizing an industry in this way is that it demystifies the opportunities and pathways for jobseekers. While labor economists, HR professionals, and policy advisors may be comfortable sorting through data and O*NET surveys to understand next-step roles or which markets offer the most competitive salaries, most workers aren’demystifiest. Interactive portals like CyberSeek make such information accessible.
But it isn’t just the cyber industry. Using job postings, career profiles, and the skills embedded within them, along with traditional LMI, we’re building custom career portals to promote all sorts of industries and careers that excite prospective talent and help close the talent gap.
With the Association for Financial Professionals, we helped create financeandaccountantcareers.com with key data such as salary information, education requirements, and skill needs to help talent navigate their career path in the industry. When all this industry data is presented in one place and visually, people are able to discover areas of work and opportunities they likely never would have seen otherwise.
Whether it’s efforts to rebuild our semiconductor workforce or adapt to shifting skill demand, workers need to visualize and chart their path in the economy. They need to see themselves in the industry and succeeding in it. Lightcast is excited to do this work as part of NWCES, in the cybersecurity and financial industries, and many others.