As part of its overall mission of contributing to European digital strategic autonomy and to the strengthening of Europe’s cyber resilience​, the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) is developing a European Cyber HR Community. It is intended to be an expert group of HR professionals to help reduce the workforce gap and speed up the hiring process in cybersecurity in Europe.  

The cybersecurity sector is under great strain on human resources: the expert gap is estimated between 260 000 and 560 000 professionals, while the number of cyberthreats is increasing. The main challenge for companies is how to attract the right candidates and retain them within their cybersecurity teams and there are many open questions and issues to be addressed if the talent shortage is to be swiftly and efficiently addressed. 

The role of HR in cybersecurity has considerably increased, due to a convergence of factors. First, recent regulatory developments at the EU level with NIS2, the Cyber Solidarity Act, the Cyber Skills Academy, etc have shed further light on the importance of skills and growing the cybersecurity workforce due to the increase in the number and types of experts that they also require. Moreover, the pervasive use of technology and devices in employees’ work has increased the cyber risks in companies. Overall, the recognition of the importance of a strong cybersecurity culture at the office is at the heart of the strategies of companies.  

Concrete actions are needed. ECSO has created the European HR Community which is a collective initiative to boost the workforce in cybersecurity. The European HR Community will act as an expert group and network of peers working together to formulate solutions and partnerships to help reduce the workforce gap and speed up the hiring process in cybersecurity in Europe. Recently, online and in-person meetings are organised to catch up on the objectives and the ongoing activities.  

In partnership with Women4Cyber, the ECSO European HR Community provides its members with :  

• Training sessions dedicated to HR practitioners on best practices, sharing insights and valuable lessons to improve hiring and retention of cyber talents (September – October 2023); 
• Online and in-person meetings with peers in HR, including informal roundtable discussions via Signal and Teams, webinars, a matchmaking events with cyber experts, CISOs and key market drivers and decision- makers.  
• A job platform at the disposal of the members of the HR community to allow a better visibility of the job offers in cyber and support the HR to post job descriptions and job seekers to have access to a comprehensive and complete database; 

Based on a well-established network of CISOs, ECSO is launching a series of exchanges between its HR community and CISO community which currently gathers over 300 CISOs from across countries and sectors in Europe. Both sides will gain from a rich exchange of information, knowledge and good practices to find effective solutions to fill the expert gap in cybersecurity in Europe.  

For any question, please contact Arnaud de Vibraye at arnaud.de.vibraye@ecs-org.eu.