The challenge of IT skill gaps

Struggling with hiring and retaining skilled cyber and IT professionals?

The cybersecurity and IT skills gap is widening, and organisations are feeling the strain. With fierce competition for experienced professionals and rising retention challenges, building a resilient in-house team is becoming unsustainable. For boards, this shortage leads to high costs, unfilled roles, and mounting security risks – all while core business operations suffer. To bridge this gap, outsourcing offers a flexible, fast, and cost-effective way to access the expertise your organisation needs.

You struggle to find talent, let alone employ them

With rapid technological advancements and evolving cyber threats, qualified professionals are increasingly scarce. This growing skills gap can leave your organisation vulnerable and impede your ability to implement advanced IT and security solutions.

Your recruitment costs skyrocket with no ROI

The demand for cyber and IT talent far outstrips supply, making recruitment difficult and costly. High salaries, intense competition, and prolonged vacancies add strain to your budget and existing team, threatening your organisation’s security resilience.

You never seem to be able to keep staff for long

Retaining skilled cyber and IT staff is challenging, especially given that stress and burnout is common in these roles. High turnover can disrupt operations, lead to a loss of critical knowledge, and increase security risks, requiring ongoing investment in staff well-being and career development.

Recruitment costs

If nothing is done, you will be stuck facing massively increasing spending on hiring and recruitment fees. The fierce competition for skilled cyber and IT professionals drives up salaries and recruitment costs, which can be as high as 25% of the annual salary for these roles. This financial strain severely impacts your business, diverting funds from other critical areas and making it difficult to maintain a balanced budget. The ongoing struggle to fill these roles leaves your organisation vulnerable and under-resourced, compromising your overall security posture.

Deterring hires

Inaction will result in turning off potential new hires due to high turnover. When skilled professionals see a pattern of frequent departures, they become wary of joining your organisation. High turnover rates signal instability and a lack of support, making it challenging to attract top talent. This perception can deter qualified candidates from applying, further exacerbating the skills gap and leaving your existing team overburdened and stressed.

Management blame

Neglecting to address these issues will lead to senior management being blamed for turnover from the board. High turnover rates and the inability to retain skilled staff reflect poorly on leadership. Board members and stakeholders may hold senior management accountable for failing to create a supportive and stable work environment. This blame can result in increased scrutiny, loss of confidence in leadership, and potential changes in management, disrupting strategic initiatives and further destabilising the organisation.

Assess internal skills today

Conduct a skills audit within your organisation to identify gaps, especially in critical areas like cybersecurity and IT. This will help you understand what skills are missing and whether the issue is recruitment or retention.

Evaluate outsourcing this week

Consider outsourcing or partnering with third-party providers to fill immediate skills gaps. Look into managed security services, IT consultants, or talent sourcing agencies that can temporarily augment your team while you search for long-term solutions.

Invest in employee development this month

Develop a strategy for nurturing internal talent. Provide targeted training and certifications for existing staff, focusing on emerging IT skills, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies. This can help reduce dependency on external hiring and improve retention.

Review compensation packages asap

High turnover rates often signal that compensation or work culture is not competitive. Conduct a market comparison of salaries, benefits, and career development opportunities to attract and retain top talent. Also, prioritise employee wellness to reduce burnout and stress in IT and cybersecurity roles.

Access external expertise

Outsourcing critical cybersecurity and IT functions gives your organisation access to a broad pool of highly skilled experts. These specialists are up-to-date on the latest technologies and threats, bridging the skills gap without the need for costly in-house recruitment and retention challenges.

Optimise costs and spend

Outsourcing enables you to control costs more effectively by converting fixed staffing expenses into variable costs. This flexibility allows you to pay only for the services you need, helping to manage budgets while addressing complex cybersecurity and IT needs.

Set yourself up for future scalability now

With outsourcing, your organisation gains the flexibility to scale resources according to changing demands. This is particularly valuable in cybersecurity, where threat landscapes shift rapidly, allowing your organisation to remain agile and responsive without compromise.

SOC (Security Operations Centre)

Constant vigilance and rapid response to ransomware and cyber threats

IT support services

Reliable, human-centric IT support that scales with your organisation

Fractional leadership

Engage experienced fractional CISOs and IT leaders to guide your organisation’s strategic direction.

From our blog

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November 19, 2024 by Conosco

You are facing major skill gaps and outsourcing challenges

From hiring to keeping talent to finding the right partner, nothing aligns or happens fast enough

Struggling with hiring and retaining skilled cyber and IT professionals?

You struggle to find talent, let alone employ them

Your recruitment costs skyrocket with no ROI

You never seem to be able to keep staff for long

Doing nothing is not an option

Recruitment costs

Deterring hires

Management blame

Actions you should take

Assess internal skills today

Evaluate outsourcing this week

Invest in employee development this month

Review compensation packages asap

Addressing the challenge

Access external expertise

Optimise costs and spend

Set yourself up for future scalability now

Speak to an expert and get your IT and security fully skilled and operational

Our portfolio of solutions that solve this challenge

SOC (Security Operations Centre)

IT support services

Fractional leadership

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