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Manufacturers guided in hiring cybersecurity workforce
As manufacturers become more reliant on automation, advanced control systems, and remote work, the threat of cyber-attacks with the potential to damage critical infrastructure and even shut down an entire plant’s operations has never been greater. In response to the general lack of preparedness by the manufacturing industry to prevent and react to cybersecurity threats, Manufacturing x Digital (MxD), an advanced manufacturing institute, has released its comprehensive hiring guide for employers, both large and small, to help fill the cybersecurity workforce gap in the manufacturing industry. The Hiring Guide: Cybersecurity in Manufacturing, which brought together more than 25 industry, academic, workforce development and government organizations, identifies 247 cybersecurity-related jobs in manufacturing.
“American manufacturing must build a skilled new army to protect our factories, products and intellectual property from cyber-attackers who lurk in the shadows. All manufacturers, no matter their size, have a vested interest in helping develop a strong and resilient cybersecurity workforce," according to MxD CEO Chandra Brown.
Among the positions outlined in the guide are three job roles crucial to the future of the cybersecurity workforce in manufacturing. They include the senior positions of Cybersecurity IT/OT Integration Engineer, Secure Design Product Life Cycle Manager, and Supply Network Cybersecurity Compliance Manager. The skill sets, career paths, education, and training required of these roles is provided in detail so that companies can use them in their recruiting.
By detailing the basic management roles and structure of a cybersecurity team in the guide, MxD hopes to encourage manufacturers of all sorts to address their cyber needs. Lizabeth Stuck, the head of workforce development at MxD states, “Over half of the roles we identified in the Hiring Guide are actually existing manufacturing roles that have been modernized, updated or retooled to address cyber needs.” Rather than expanding operations and hiring for newly created positions, the guide suggests that many existing employees can be reskilled and retrained to fill cybersecurity needs.
The full guide is available for free download here.