57% of organizations are upskilling existing staff as the primary response to talent gaps, compared with 49% hiring new technical staff.

Upskilling outperforms hiring: it provides a 7.9x advantage in business context, a 7.7x advantage in staff retention, a 7.3x advantage in team cohesion, a 5x advantage in total cost, and a 3.5x advantage in quality of work.

97% of IT security hiring managers are actively seeking candidates with at least one AI-related skill.

56% of companies are considering new hiring for skill improvement.

Soft skills are the largest reported skill gap in cybersecurity, increasing from 51% in 2024 to 59% in 2025.

61% of respondents indicate that adaptability is very important in determining a cybersecurity applicant's qualifications.

Professional development training is the most common employer benefit at 60%, three percentage points higher than last year.

Prior hands-on cybersecurity experience is considered very important by 60% of respondents, marking a decline from 73% last year.

Employer-paid employee certification fees dropped to the second most common benefit, offered by only 54% of respondents, a decrease from 65% in 2024

The top three most important soft skills needed by security professionals are critical thinking (57%), communication (56%), and problem solving (47%).

Nearly half (44%) of cybersecurity professionals agreed that their organization's cybersecurity hiring has not yet been affected by the introduction of AI security tools.

21% of cybersecurity professionals say AI has changed their hiring plans and priorities in their organizations.

44% of organizations say it’s difficult to hire for automation and AI roles.

44% of organizations say it’s difficult to hire for automation and AI roles.

18% of organizations are expanding hiring for roles focused on AI governance, automation oversight, and data protection.