Chaos continues in D.C.'s cybersecurity job market
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
The shock-and-awe firings of the new Trump administration's first month continue to unleash turmoil in Washington's cybersecurity workforce.
Why it matters: The Trump team's aggressive downsizing of federal cyber employees could encourage nation-state hackers who already target the U.S. and could leave American companies less protected from their attacks.
The big picture: Cuts at the Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation could all have ripple effects for the nation's cybersecurity.
What they're saying: Mass layoffs of public-sector cybersecurity professionals are especially problematic since the broader industry is overworked and understaffed.
- Art Zeile, CEO of tech careers marketplace Dice and its parent company, DHI Group, says long hours and burnout afflict cybersecurity professionals much the same as they do air traffic controllers.
- Zeile told Axios there has been a deficit of cybersecurity professionals in government for the last 10 years. "There's no reason to shoot ourselves in the foot by incentivizing them to leave," he said.
- Federal cybersecurity work is also unique. "Government databases are extremely complicated and also old, in addition to being full of people's private information," Meredith Broussard, research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology, tells Axios.
Between the lines: The continuing shortage of skilled cyber employees and high burnout rates for the employees who do have jobs add to the overwhelming air of uncertainty around who is currently defending U.S. networks.
- Team members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have reportedly been hired at CISA.
- Many leadership positions in federal cybersecurity teams remain unfilled.
One of DHI's hiring platforms specifically targets employees with federal security clearances.
- In the first week of the second Trump administration, Zeile said, CISA told DHI to take all the open jobs off the platform "right now."
- "Then a week later they said, 'No, please reinstate all of the jobs immediately,'" Zeile said.
- Things seem to be a little more stable now, but "we're still in a very uncertain time," he said.
The Trump administration has already fired and then rehired critical employees from both the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Agriculture, but the cybersecurity employee shortage means private companies may snap up key talent quickly.
What we're watching: Zeile says it's too soon to tell if all of those laid-off employees will jump ship to public companies.
- But Victor Hoskins, president and chief executive of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, recently told the Wall Street Journal, "If there is a labor supply that is talented and available, it will be picked up."
Are you a federal employee with a tip? You can reach Megan Morrone confidentially on Signal @megan.15.
