Demand for cybersecurity workers remains strong despite the slowing economy, according to data released by CyberSeek, a partnership of the National Initiative for CyberSecurity Education, CompTIA and Lightcast.

The total number of employed cybersecurity workers held steady in 2022 at around 1.1 million. Meanwhile, the number of online job postings edged down to 755,743 in December from 769,736 a year ago.

“Despite concerns about a slowing economy, demand for cybersecurity workers remains historically high,” said Will Markow, Lightcast’s VP of applied research-talent Will Markow. “Companies know cybercrime won’t pause for a market downturn, so employers can’t afford to pause their cybersecurity hiring.”

According to Lightcast data, each of the first nine months of 2022 set records for the highest monthly cybersecurity demand since 2012 but cooled in November and December. However, there still aren’t enough cybersecurity workers to meet demand.

A key indicator is the ratio of currently employed cybersecurity workers to new openings, which gives an indication of how big the worker shortfall is. The supply-demand ratio is currently 68 workers per 100 job openings, edging up from the previous period’s ratio of 65 workers per 100 openings. Based on these numbers, we need nearly 530,000 more cybersecurity workers in the US in order to close current supply gaps.

Demand for cybersecurity workers rose in both public and private sectors

Between 2021 and 2022, public sector cybersecurity demand grew 25% to 45,708 postings, while private sector demand grew at a rate of 21% to 710,035 job listings. Lightcast data shows an even larger disparity between growth rates when comparing the growth since 2019. In the past three years, private sector cybersecurity demand has grown 36%, while public sector demand grew 58%.

The Washington DC metro area alone accounted for 19% (8,686) of all public sector domestic cybersecurity demand in 2022. It’s expected that the DC metro area will need 52,634 new cybersecurity workers to close current supply gaps.

“Each new disclosure of a data breach amplifies the critical need for more cybersecurity professionals,” said Nancy Hammervik, chief solutions officer at CompTIA.