Coalition of Agencies Push for Cyber Workforce Paradigm Shift
The drumbeat of agencies, working groups, and commissions calling for heightened national attention to the cybersecurity workforce ratcheted up again last week, with a new report from the interagency Federal Cyber Workforce Management and Coordinating Working Group advocating for “strategic changes” to the nation’s approach to developing a cyber workforce.
The working group, led by representatives from the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) presented over 30 recommendations in their report: State of the Federal Cyber Workforce: A Call for Collective Action.
The report provides fresh details on the scope and scale of the national cyber workforce needs. Over 700,000 cyber jobs are vacant across the United States, including some 40,000 across federal, state, and local governments.
The Working Group identified five major challenges facing the development of a cyber workforce that fall within three focus areas.
1. Foundations
a. Cyber Workforce Policy
b. Classification Cyber Workforce Data
2. Development
a. Entry-Level Cyber Talent
b. Current Cyber Talent
3. Recruitment and Retention
a. Cyber Workforce Recruitment and Retention
To position the federal government to compete for cyber talent, the interagency working group collaborated on a request submitted this summer to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a Special Salary Rate increase covering positions under OPM’s 2210 occupational series. OPM is vetting that proposal and is expected to make a determination by the end of calendar 2022, enabling agencies to plan accordingly for the FY24 budget process, according to Chris Paris, senior advisor for cyber workforce management in the VA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer and one of the working groups tri-chairs.
“If approved and implemented, it would really mark a huge increase in pay across the General Schedule, but primarily for our entry talent positions, where there is such a severe pay gap between what we can provide and what industry offers. That would go a long way in actually attracting folks,” Paris said.
To ensure robust training and development opportunities are available for cyber employees, the report recommends the establishment of a federal cyber academy, reiterating a recommendation from other cyber workforce initiatives including the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and its successor.
“This academy would be a key to bolstering our numbers, because you can put people in the seats much, much faster than waiting for a four-year degree to run through,” said Patrick Johnson, the director of DoD’s Cyber Workforce Management Directorate. “And from the same pool, then you can look at if you want to upskill and start tracking individuals for a bachelor’s degree or sending them for their masters or sending in for a Ph.D.”
The working group has also been preparing interview and hiring guides, and plans further updates to resources like the DHS PushButtonPD Tool and the CyberCareers.gov website, to assist federal agencies in assessing cyber talent, according to Megan Caposell, the associate chief of workforce planning at CISA.
“Our goal is that all HR professionals are able to speak to each work role and understand the terminology of the cyber and IT professionals whom they serve,” Caposell said.
The report and efforts of the working group are intended to support broader initiatives ongoing across government being led by the National Cyber Director in the White House.
