Dive Brief:
- The White House introduced the first ever Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy on Tuesday.
- The plan includes a number of actions designed to "identify, recruit, develop, retain and expand" the cybersecurity talent pipeline for the federal government and the nation, according to the announcement.
- The White House said the federal government needs more cybersecurity talent to meet the rising demand for federal government cybersecurity protection.
Dive Insight:
Earlier this year, President Obama asked the Administration to implement the Cybersecurity National Action Plan. The new Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy is a subset of that effort.
The strategy includes a proposed investment of $62 million in FY 2017 funding to expand cybersecurity education across the nation, as well as initiatives designed to help improve federal cybersecurity recruitment and retention efforts.
"The government will adjust the way it recruits, including the way it approaches talented students and potential employees in the cybersecurity workforce outside Federal service," according to the announcement.
In the first six months of this fiscal year, the federal government hired 3,000 new cybersecurity and IT professionals, according to the announcement. But the White House wants to continue its hiring efforts with a plan to allow agencies to hire another 3,500 cybersecurity and IT professionals by Jan. 2017.
The federal government has remained challenged to attract cybersecurity personnel, who can often make a lot more money in the private sector. In April, a memo from the Office of Personnel Management revealed that the federal government is struggling to attract cybersecurity personnel. The memo said that in the federal government cybersecurity remains an "at risk" career field. The same month, the Department of Homeland Security revealed it was having a difficult time recruiting cybersecurity experts.
