Utrecht, NL – (ISC)² – the world’s largest nonprofit association of certified cybersecurity professionals – today shared the findings from an in-depth look at workplace diversity within IT roles in the Netherlands. The data revealed a progressive working culture with broad efforts to deliver age, gender and ethnic diversity in the workplace, with considerable scope for more to be achieved to deliver a truly balanced workforce.
What: An independent blind study commissioned by (ISC)2 of 250 employees responsible for hiring IT roles in organizations across the Netherlands. It looked at the diversity of age, gender, ethnicity and origin. It revealed an extensive commitment to fostering workplace diversity, with three quarters (76%) of organizations stating diversity as a key value or business priority. Diversity has been a long-term focus for a third of organizations (34%), having been a business priority over the last five year, alongside almost four in 10 (39%), where it has been a priority for the last 2-4 years.
Why Diversity is Important to Dutch Employers: When asked why diversity was so important, hiring benefits emerged as the primary consideration, with 31% saying that a diverse workplace helps to attract and retain top talent. This was the biggest consideration among respondents. Alongside this, 28% affirmed that diversity in the workplace supports innovation, by bringing a much wider set of ideas and perspectives to the table when problem-solving or developing new products and services. A quarter (26%) agreed that a diverse workplace is more interesting, and by definition more appealing, while over a fifth (21%) pointed to brand value and productivity being bolstered by a diverse workforce.
However, the data showed that there are gaps in the realization of these positive diversity efforts. Less than half (43%) are very satisfied with the level of gender diversity in their organizations, and only a third (38%) for ethnicity. Over a third (36%) singled out the IT department as the most gender diverse department in their organizations, but a quarter also considered it their least gender diverse department. For ethnicity, the IT department was considered the most diverse by less than a quarter (24%) of respondents, but was seen as the least diverse by ethnicity by only 18%.
Focus on Cyber Recruitment: Hiring for cybersecurity roles remains buoyant in the region, with 86% of those surveyed reporting plans to hire more staff specifically for cybersecurity roles in the coming year. Some 22% plan to hire 4-6 dedicated cybersecurity professionals, 16% expect to hire 7-10 and 11% are looking for 11-30 people each. The findings illustrate the cybersecurity skills supply-and-demand challenge facing organizations not just in the Netherlands, but across the EU.
Taking Action on IT Workforce Diversity: Just over half of organizations (54%) have formal programs in place for diverse hiring on the basis of gender, age and nationality. In terms of who is responsible for those programs, 40% of survey respondents said that the HR department is the primary driver of diversity and inclusivity efforts. However, just one in five said that senior managers were at the forefront of diversity efforts, while just a tenth said it was the C-suite in their organizations leading diversity and setting the agenda for building a diverse technology workforce.
Comment: “Across the EU, we are seeing attempts to forge a culture of workplace diversity in order to address organizational challenges. Particularly so in the cybersecurity space, where demand for skilled professionals is higher than ever. From fostering a more creative workplace, to broadening the range of skills and skilled professionals that organizations can attract and retain, diversity is a key business effectiveness decision that needs to be made whilst ensuring the best candidate is chosen for the role,” said Deshini Newman, Managing Director EMEA at (ISC)².
“The Netherlands has long been regarded as a beacon for successful social integration, and these findings confirm this is still the case in the workforce. Nonetheless, there is more to be done to ensure that more women are encouraged to enter the cybersecurity workforce, that minorities representative of society are included and that the next generation are encouraged into the workforce, not held back for reasons of age and lack of experience, so they can learn from their experienced counterparts”.
For more research on diversity and the cybersecurity workforce, please visit
www.isc2.org/research.
About the Research Methodology
(ISC)2 commissioned Opinion Matters to conduct an independent blind study of employees in 250 organizations in the Netherlands. The study gathered insights from those responsible for hiring IT roles in organizations employing 500+ people. The sample was not exclusively focused on those in dedicated HR roles, but widened to include others outside of the HR department that would routinely have a hand in the hiring process for IT professionals. Respondents included IT department heads, team leads, IT directors, CIOs and CISOs. The aspect of diversity explored focused on factors such as gender, ethnicity, age and country of origin, as well as how organizations operationalize their hiring methods.
About (ISC)²
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, (ISC)² is an international nonprofit membership association focused on inspiring a safe and secure cyber world. Best known for the acclaimed Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP®) certification, (ISC)² offers a portfolio of credentials that are part of a holistic, pragmatic approach to security. Our membership, more than 140,000 strong, is made up of certified cyber, information, software and infrastructure security professionals who are making a difference and helping to advance the industry. Our vision is supported by our commitment to educate and reach the general public through our charitable foundation –
The Center for Cyber Safety and Education™. For more information on (ISC)², visit
www.isc2.org, follow us on
Twitter or connect with us on
Facebook and
LinkedIn.
###
© 2019 (ISC)² Inc., (ISC)², CISSP, SSCP, CCSP, CAP, CSSLP, HCISPP, CCFP, CISSP-ISSAP, CISSP-ISSEP, CISSP-ISSMP and CBK are registered marks of (ISC)², Inc.