People looking for a career field to focus on may want to consider the cybersecurity industry. Recruitment firm Manpower reported that top cybersecurity experts are earning five-figure sums per day to guarantee that top companies in the UK are protected from hackers.
Compared to the demand in 2014, the number of employers looking for IT security experts have quadrupled in 2015.
Companies Are Willing To Pay
Top cybersecurity experts are said to bill their clients more than £10,000 (around $15,000) a day for ensuring the companies' protection from advanced hackers. IT experts with less experience are not worried though, because they too can charge a more-than-enough amount of £3,000 (about $4,500) per day.
Demand for cybersecurity experts surged after recent attacks on high-profile companies such as Sony, JD Wetherspoon and TalkTalk were reported. World leaders were also affected as hacktivist group Anonymous leaked the phone numbers, email addresses and personal information of the delegates of the Paris climate summit - a report that the UN itself confirmed.
"There are millions of cyberattacks every day," said Mark Cahill, the managing director of ManpowerGroup UK. Companies prefer to invest large amounts of money for protective services as they think cyberattacks are unavoidable. More than prevention, firms also want to know how best to respond to attacks.
Bright Future For IT Professionals
While it may be financially draining for top companies, cybersecurity looks to be a highly-lucrative career that IT professionals can hold on to. Based on Manpower's data, it seems that profits from cybersecurity services will not drop anytime soon.
The pool of cybersecurity experts are not that massive, which means that only a few professionals can do the job well. With this, Manpower said the hourly rates of these professionals will most likely continue its upward trend in 2016.
Part of the Manpower report is the trend that UK employers are more likely to follow as 2016 enters. Companies are said to be more positive than in 2015, with plans of boosting hiring, particularly those coming in from the North West and North East.
Cahill, however, added that the optimistic vibe among employers may be put to a halt come April 2016 as the National Living Wage may significantly impact UK job markets, specifically in the retail, social services and hospitality industries.
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