Cybersecurity Job Satisfaction Plummets, Women Hit Hardest

Job satisfaction levels for women working in cybersecurity have plummeted in the past two years, with just 67% reporting being satisfied in 2024 compared to 82% in 2022.

The new ISC2 figures also found a drop-off among men working in the sector, but at a much lower rate, from 73% in 2022 to 66% in 2024.

This trend has been linked to significant layoffs and budget cutbacks in cybersecurity teams in the past two years.

Around a third (32%) of female respondents said that their organization had experienced security layoffs over the past year. For male respondents just 23% experienced layoffs in their team.

Job satisfaction was found to be higher among women and men where no layoffs had occurred at their organization – 71% for women and 70% for men.

ISC2’s study also found that women experienced a higher proportion of cybersecurity cutbacks at their organization, manifesting in the following ways:

• Budget cuts: 40% for women versus 36% for men
• Hiring freezes: 42% for women versus 37% for men
• Freeze on promotions/raises: 36% for women versus 31% for men

The study found that job satisfaction levels in cybersecurity are linked to flexible working practices. Fully remote workers reported the highest levels of job satisfaction.

Men who worked in office, full time, had the lowest job satisfaction, at 62%. Interestingly, women in the same situation reported significantly higher job satisfaction levels, at 68%.

“The winding back of remote and flexible working that has happened in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic is occurring despite the positive impact that more flexible working is shown to have on a workforce, especially those who may have additional needs to accommodate such as childcare,” ISC2 wrote.

Women Make Up a Fifth of the Cybersecurity Workforce

The study found that women made up just over a fifth (22%) of the cybersecurity workforce across the 14 countries surveyed.

These levels ranged from a high of 26.7% in Italy to a low of 14.6% in Germany.

In the US, 18.3% of cybersecurity workers were women, Canada was 21.2% and the UK was 17.9%.

A notable proportion (16%) of respondents said that their security teams contain no women at all, while only 5% have parity.

The proportion of women in cybersecurity teams is slightly higher commensurate with the size of the organization. Women make up 20% of cyber workers in small organizations, 22% in mid-size organizations and 23% in large organizations.

Over half (55%) of women surveyed were in managerial or higher positions, including 7% in C-suite roles such as CISO.

ISC2 said the findings demonstrate the scale of the challenge to achieve gender parity across cybersecurity teams.