Other numbers in the same survey should trigger even louder alarms. Nearly three-fifths of all cyber/IT workers say they have considered or have actively begun looking for new jobs due to the pressures of their role. In addition, nearly half report feeling pressure from leadership to “fix everything” in the aftermath of a security incident, while nearly one in five (18%) say they feel “hopeless and overwhelmed” during and after an incident.
As a Field CTO who works closely with security teams to set them up for success, this data gives me chills. So many of our best professionals feel threatened enough by cyber stress to walk out the door and look for a new job. This is more than an HR nightmare; it’s a business resilience challenge.
Burnout is intensifying
Any CSO or CISO knows that burnout in the cybersecurity sector is not a brand-new topic. As far back as the early 2000s, when cyber evolved into a formal discipline, leaders were talking openly about the stress security pros were feeling, having to be “always on.” Over the next two decades, surveys found that a majority of security personnel felt burned out and many considered leaving the field.
