The cybersecurity sector in Belgium grew by two-thirds between 2021 and 2024. This has created thousands of new jobs. However, the technology industry federation Agoria warns that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find sufficient suitably qualified staff to fill the rapidly growing number of cyber security posts.
A recent study shows there are currently 9,750 full-time positions in cybersecurity in Belgium. Of these, 1,170 posts remain vacant. Across all industries, an estimated 4,000 cybersecurity specialists are urgently required.
The vacancy rate in cybersecurity stands at 12.4% this is more than twice as high as for the IT sector as a whole (5.4%). The high vacancy rate is despite an increase in the number of places on training programmes in recent years.
Agoria’s Future Workforce Manager Saskia van Uffelen told journalists that “The few hundred graduates entering the workforce each year are nowhere near enough. We need stronger partnerships with universities and colleges, and cybersecurity must be embedded much earlier in education.”
Agoria expects demand to keep rising. The industry federation forecasts the cybersecurity industry’s turnover will double by 2030, up from 2.61 billion euros in 2023 and 1.58 billion euros in 2021.