{"id":1141,"date":"2026-10-08T14:28:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:34:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T08:34:19","slug":"cybersecurity-uk-job-market-report-trends-insights-and-statistics-august-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/job-market-insights\/cybersecurity-uk-job-market-report-trends-insights-and-statistics-august-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity UK Job Market Report: Trends, Insights, and Statistics [October 2026]"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-job-market-insights","tag-cyber-security"],"meta_box":{"cg_hero_badge":"","cg_heading":"","cg_subheading":"","cg_featured_image":false,"cg_author_designation":"","cg_author_bio":"","cg_s1_heading":"","cg_s1_intro":"","cg_s1_subheading":"","cg_s1_para1":"","cg_s1_para2":"","cg_s2_heading":"","cg_s2_para":"","cg_s2_sublabel":"","cg_s2_list_1":"","cg_s2_list_2":"","cg_s2_list_3":"","cg_s2_list_4":"","cg_s2_list_5":"","cg_s2_list_6":"","cg_s2_list_7":"","cg_s2_list_8":"","cg_s2_list_9":"","cg_s2_list_10":"","cg_s2_note":"","cg_banner1_badge":"","cg_banner1_heading":"","cg_banner1_text":"","cg_banner1_stat_number":"","cg_banner1_stat_label":"","cg_s4_heading":"","cg_s4_intro":"","cg_s4_card1_heading":"","cg_s4_card1_subtext":"","cg_s4_card1_item_1":"","cg_s4_card1_item_2":"","cg_s4_card1_item_3":"","cg_s4_card1_item_4":"","cg_s4_card1_item_5":"","cg_s4_card1_item_6":"","cg_s4_card1_item_7":"","cg_s4_card1_item_8":"","cg_s4_card2_heading":"","cg_s4_card2_subtext":"","cg_s4_card2_item_1":"","cg_s4_card2_item_2":"","cg_s4_card2_item_3":"","cg_s4_card2_item_4":"","cg_s4_card2_item_5":"","cg_s4_card2_item_6":"","cg_s4_card2_item_7":"","cg_s4_note":"","cg_s3_heading":"","cg_s3_para1":"","cg_s3_para2":"","cg_s3_quote":"","cg_s5_heading":"","cg_s5_para":"","cg_s5_sublabel":"","cg_s5_job_title_1":"","cg_s5_job_title_2":"","cg_s5_job_title_3":"","cg_s5_job_title_4":"","cg_s5_job_title_5":"","cg_s5_job_title_6":"","cg_s5_job_title_7":"","cg_s5_job_title_8":"","cg_s5_job_title_9":"","cg_banner2_badge":"","cg_banner2_heading":"","cg_banner2_text":"","cg_banner2_stat_number":"","cg_banner2_stat_label":"","cg_s6_heading":"","cg_s6_para":"","cg_s6_star_heading":"","cg_s6_star_situation":"","cg_s6_star_task":"","cg_s6_star_action":"","cg_s6_star_result":"","cg_s6_note":"","cg_faq_badge":"","cg_faq_heading":"","cg_faq_subtext":"","cg_faq_question_1":"","cg_faq_answer_1":"","cg_faq_question_2":"","cg_faq_answer_2":"","cg_faq_question_3":"","cg_faq_answer_3":"","cg_faq_question_4":"","cg_faq_answer_4":"","cg_faq_question_5":"","cg_faq_answer_5":"","jmi_hero_title":"Cybersecurity UK Job Market Report: Trends, Insights, and Statistics [August 2026]","jmi_hero_intro":"An up-to-date snapshot of the UK\u2019s cybersecurity job market for summer 2026, covering salaries, workforce size, the skills gap, breach data and live hiring demand. It draws on DSIT and Home Office research, ITJobsWatch, Morgan McKinley, Indeed UK and Glassdoor UK. Figures are current as of August 2026.","jmi_stat_1_label":"Median cyber security salary","jmi_stat_1_value":"\u00a360,000","jmi_stat_1_badge":"+4.35% YoY","jmi_stat_1_desc":"Median across all UK roles citing cyber security skills, against a whole-economy median of roughly \u00a331,600.","jmi_stat_2_label":"UK cyber workforce","jmi_stat_2_value":"143K","jmi_stat_2_badge":"+5% in 2024","jmi_stat_2_desc":"DSIT\u2019s whole-economy estimate, driven largely by a 20% rise in cyber security graduates.","jmi_stat_3_label":"Businesses breached in 2025","jmi_stat_3_value":"43%","jmi_stat_3_badge":"Flat YoY","jmi_stat_3_desc":"Share of UK businesses (about 612,000) that identified a breach or attack in the last 12 months.","jmi_stat_4_label":"Cyber sector revenue","jmi_stat_4_value":"\u00a314.7bn","jmi_stat_4_badge":"+11% YoY","jmi_stat_4_desc":"Revenue of the UK cyber security sector, up from \u00a38.9 billion in 2020.","jmi_i1_badge":"Insight 01 \u2013 Compensation Intelligence","jmi_i1_heading":"Cybersecurity roles pay a median \u00a360,000, from \u00a352.4k for analysts to \u00a3130k+ for CISOs","jmi_i1_intro":"Cybersecurity remains one of the best-paid corners of UK tech, and pay climbs steeply with seniority: the gap between a junior analyst and a security architect is now wider than the median UK salary itself. The median salary across all UK roles citing cyber security skills is \u00a360,000, up 4.35% year on year and comfortably above the UK\u2019s whole-economy median pay of roughly \u00a331,600 (ONS, 2025).4 The figures below are UK medians for permanent roles in the six months to July 2026.","jmi_i1_chart":{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph.webp","filesize":18538,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph-300x182.webp","width":300,"height":182,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":4224,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph-300x182.webp"},"thumbnail":{"file":"UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph-150x150.webp","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":2296,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph-150x150.webp"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[],"alt":""},"ID":"1145","name":"UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph.webp","path":"\/var\/www\/vhosts\/fortray.com\/httpdocs\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph-150x150.webp","full_url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cybersecurity-Salary-Graph.webp","title":"UK Cybersecurity Salary Graph","caption":"UK Cybersecurity Median Salary By Role ","description":"This image shows a bar graph with the cybersecurity job salaries by role in the UK for the year 2026.","alt":"This image shows a bar graph with the cybersecurity job salaries by role in the UK for the year 2026.","srcset":false},"jmi_i1_note_1_title":"Median benchmark","jmi_i1_note_1_text":"Medians run from \u00a352.4k for analysts (typical range \u00a331k\u2013\u00a372k) and \u00a365.0k for engineers (\u00a345k\u2013\u00a385k) to \u00a370.0k for security managers (\u00a350k\u2013\u00a395k) and \u00a385.0k for architects (\u00a365k\u2013\u00a3130k).","jmi_i1_note_2_title":"Entry-level vs senior cap","jmi_i1_note_2_text":"Entry-level roles such as SOC analyst and junior penetration tester typically start at \u00a328,000\u2013\u00a340,000. At the top end, Head of Security \/ CISO roles have a median of \u00a3130k+ and a typical range of \u00a3100k\u2013\u00a3180k+.","jmi_i1_note_3_title":"Location & certification premium","jmi_i1_note_3_text":"London roles pay 10\u201320% more than the UK average; Indeed puts the London cyber security average at \u00a351,296, around 17% above the national figure.6 OSCP and CISSP holders routinely command five-figure uplifts over uncertified peers, while CompTIA Security+ and CEH remain the most common baseline requirements in job adverts.","jmi_i2_badge":"Insight 02 \u2013 Workforce & Skills Gap","jmi_i2_heading":"The UK cyber workforce reached 143,000 while the annual skills gap narrowed to 3,800","jmi_i2_intro":"The UK\u2019s official annual labour-market study, commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is the most authoritative read on how big the workforce is and how far short of demand it falls.1 The 2026 edition shows a workforce that is growing faster than it was and a shortfall that has shrunk sharply, which suggests the constraint is shifting from a raw shortage of people to a mismatch between where new talent lands and where demand sits.","jmi_i2_chart":{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap.webp","filesize":15928,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap-300x139.webp","width":300,"height":139,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":3218,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap-300x139.webp"},"thumbnail":{"file":"Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap-150x150.webp","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":2664,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap-150x150.webp"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[],"alt":""},"ID":"1146","name":"Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap.webp","path":"\/var\/www\/vhosts\/fortray.com\/httpdocs\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap-150x150.webp","full_url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cybersecurity-Workforce-Gap.webp","title":"Annual UK Cyber Security Workforce Gap (2021\u20132025)","caption":"The UK cyber security workforce gap remained above 10,000 positions between 2021 and 2023, then fell sharply to around 3,500 positions in 2024, with a slight increase to 3,800 in 2025.","description":"This bar chart illustrates the annual UK cyber security workforce gap between 2021 and 2025. The chart shows workforce shortages of 10.6 thousand positions in 2021, 11.1 thousand in 2022, and 11.1 thousand in 2023. A substantial decline is observed in 2024, when the gap fell to 3.5 thousand positions, followed by a modest increase to 3.8 thousand positions in 2025. The data suggests a marked reduction in the cyber security skills shortage after 2023, although a workforce gap remains. The source cited is the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) report, Cyber security skills in the UK labour market.","alt":"Bar chart showing the annual UK cyber security workforce gap from 2021 to 2025. The gap was 10.6k in 2021, increased to 11.1k in 2022 and remained at 11.1k in 2023, before dropping to 3.5k in 2024 and slightly rising to 3.8k in 2025. Source: DSIT, Cyber security skills in the UK labour market.","srcset":false},"jmi_i2_note_1_title":"143,000 people","jmi_i2_note_1_text":"DSIT estimates the UK cyber security workforce reached 143,000 people in 2024, growing 5% that year, up from 2% growth in 2022, driven largely by a 20% rise in the number of cyber security graduates.","jmi_i2_note_2_title":"Narrowed Gap","jmi_i2_note_2_text":"The annual workforce gap has narrowed from 11,100 in 2022\/23 to 3,800 in the most recent report.1 ISC2 puts the UK\u2019s skills gap at roughly 93,000 using a global workforce-demand model. Both figures are correct because they measure different things, so always check the methodology before comparing.","jmi_i2_note_3_title":"Diversity in the profession","jmi_i2_note_3_text":"Only 17% of cyber security professionals are women, against 48% of the UK workforce overall. Just 8% report a disability, and while 19% are from an ethnic minority background, only 8% of that group hold senior roles.","jmi_i3_badge":"Insight 03 \u2013 Industry Breakdown","jmi_i3_heading":"The UK cyber security sector generated \u00a314.7 billion in revenue in 2025, up from \u00a38.9 billion in 2020","jmi_i3_intro":"Alongside the 143,000-strong whole-economy workforce sits a narrower figure: people employed specifically by firms that sell cyber security products and services. DSIT tracks this separately in its annual Sectoral Analysis, the eighth edition of which was published in May 2026. Sector revenue rose 11% year on year to \u00a314.7 billion, gross value added rose 17% to \u00a39.1 billion, and the number of active firms rose 20% to 2,603, while full-time-equivalent employment grew just 3% to 69,600. Employment growth of 3% is the slowest recorded since the series began in 2018, even as firm count jumped 20% and GVA rose 17%. Revenue and productivity are climbing faster than headcount (GVA per employee is \u00a3131.2k, up 13%), a sign that AI-assisted tooling and consolidation, not just hiring, are driving sector growth. Sector investment reached \u00a3184 million across 47 deals in 2025, and most firms are small: 58% micro, 19% small and just 22% medium or large, against around 3% of the wider UK business population. Don\u2019t confuse the two headline workforce figures: 143,000 is the whole-economy estimate, including in-house security staff at banks, retailers and government bodies, while 69,600 counts only people employed directly by dedicated cyber security firms.","jmi_i3_chart":{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025.webp","filesize":31596,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-300x127.webp","width":300,"height":127,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":3354,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-300x127.webp"},"large":{"file":"UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-1024x432.webp","width":1024,"height":432,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":16278,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-1024x432.webp"},"thumbnail":{"file":"UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-150x150.webp","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":2312,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-150x150.webp"},"medium_large":{"file":"UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-768x324.webp","width":768,"height":324,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":11170,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-768x324.webp"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[],"alt":""},"ID":"1147","name":"UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025.webp","path":"\/var\/www\/vhosts\/fortray.com\/httpdocs\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025-150x150.webp","full_url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Cyber-Security-Sector-Growth-2020-vs-2025.webp","title":"UK Cyber Security Sector Growth 2020 vs 2025","caption":"Between 2020 and 2025, the UK cyber security sector experienced substantial growth, with revenue, economic contribution, and employment all increasing significantly.","description":"This infographic compares the performance of the UK cyber security sector in 2020 and 2025 across three key measures: revenue, gross value added (GVA), and employment. The first chart shows revenue growing from \u00a38.9 billion in 2020 to \u00a314.7 billion in 2025. The second chart shows gross value added increasing from \u00a34.0 billion to \u00a39.1 billion, indicating a strong rise in the sector\u2019s economic contribution. The third chart shows employment expanding from 46.7 thousand to 69.6 thousand full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs over the same period. Overall, the charts illustrate significant growth in the size, value, and workforce of the UK cyber security sector between 2020 and 2025. The data source is the DSIT Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2026 report, produced by Ipsos and Perspective Economics.","alt":"Three side-by-side bar charts compare key metrics for the UK cyber security sector in 2020 and 2025. Revenue increased from \u00a38.9 billion in 2020 to \u00a314.7 billion in 2025. Gross value added rose from \u00a34.0 billion to \u00a39.1 billion. Employment increased from 46.7 thousand full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs to 69.6 thousand. Source: DSIT Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2026 (Ipsos \/ Perspective Economics).","srcset":false},"jmi_i4_badge":"Insight 04 \u2013 Skills Shortage","jmi_i4_heading":"Nearly half of UK businesses now report an incident-response skills gap, up from 27% in 2020","jmi_i4_intro":"Skills gaps in UK cyber security are persistent and span both basic and advanced work. DSIT\u2019s research finds that around half of businesses lack basic technical skills such as firewall setup and malware removal, 30% report gaps in advanced skills, and the share reporting an incident-response gap has risen sharply since 2020. AI is adding a new layer. For the first time, DSIT\u2019s 2026 labour-market research and the Breaches Survey both dedicated substantial sections to AI, as both a productivity tool for security teams and a new source of risk: 53% of cyber security businesses report staff already using AI tools in daily work, 65% expect their need for AI-related skills to increase over the next year, and only 42% say staff have received any formal AI training. Roughly a third of all UK businesses are using, adopting or considering AI, but only 24% of that group have cyber security practices in place to manage the risk. That gap between AI adoption and AI governance is emerging as one of the fastest-growing niches in UK hiring, alongside cloud security and OT\/critical-infrastructure security.","jmi_i4_card_1_title":"Basic technical skills gap","jmi_i4_card_1_desc":"UK businesses reporting gaps in basic technical skills, such as firewall setup and malware removal.","jmi_i4_card_1_percent":"49%","jmi_i4_card_2_title":"Advanced skills gap","jmi_i4_card_2_desc":"Businesses reporting gaps in advanced skills, such as penetration testing and forensic analysis.","jmi_i4_card_2_percent":"30%","jmi_i4_card_3_title":"Incident-response gap","jmi_i4_card_3_desc":"Businesses reporting an incident-response skills gap, up from 27% in 2020.","jmi_i4_card_3_percent":"48%","jmi_i5_badge":"Insight 05 \u2013 Threat Landscape","jmi_i5_heading":"43% of UK businesses identified a breach or attack in the last 12 months","jmi_i5_intro":"Hiring demand is ultimately a function of risk. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025\/2026, based on interviews with 2,112 businesses and 1,085 charities, is the clearest picture of how exposed UK organisations are. The 43% figure (about 612,000 businesses) is flat year on year and down from 50% two years ago, but exposure rises with size: 42% of micro businesses, 46% of small, 65% of medium and 69% of large businesses identified a breach or attack. An estimated 5.19 million cyber crimes were committed against UK businesses over the year, and 31% of businesses now place cyber security responsibility at board level, up from 27%.","jmi_i5_chart":{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack.webp","filesize":18262,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack-300x185.webp","width":300,"height":185,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":3756,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack-300x185.webp"},"thumbnail":{"file":"UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack-150x150.webp","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/webp","filesize":2688,"url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack-150x150.webp"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[],"alt":""},"ID":"1148","name":"UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack.webp","path":"\/var\/www\/vhosts\/fortray.com\/httpdocs\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack-150x150.webp","full_url":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/UK-Businesses-Experiencing-a-Cyber-Security-Breach-or-Attack.webp","title":"UK Businesses Experiencing a Cyber Security Breach or Attack","caption":"Nearly half of UK businesses (43%) reported experiencing a cyber security breach or attack during the previous 12 months.","description":"This donut chart illustrates the proportion of UK businesses that experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months. At the center of the chart, the figure \u201c43%\u201d is prominently displayed, indicating the share of businesses that reported being breached or attacked. The orange segment represents affected businesses, while the larger light grey segment represents the remaining 57% of businesses that did not report a breach or attack during the period. The visualization highlights that cyber incidents remain a significant concern for organizations across the United Kingdom, affecting more than four in ten businesses. The data is sourced from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025\/2026 conducted by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Home Office.","alt":"Donut chart showing that 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber security breach or attack within the previous 12 months. The highlighted orange segment represents the affected businesses, while the remaining light grey segment represents businesses that did not report a breach or attack. Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025\/2026 (DSIT & Home Office).","srcset":false},"jmi_i5_note_1_title":"Phishing dominates","jmi_i5_note_1_text":"Phishing was experienced by 38% of businesses and named the most disruptive attack type by 69% of those affected, followed by impersonation (10%), malware (7%), denial of service (3%) and ransomware (1%).","jmi_i5_note_2_title":"Rare but costly","jmi_i5_note_2_text":"Ransomware hit just 1% of businesses (down from 3%) but remains disproportionately damaging. The share of breaches resulting in lost revenue or share value more than doubled from 2% to 5%, yet only 25% of businesses have a formal incident-response plan and just 5% hold Cyber Essentials certification.","jmi_i6_badge":"Insight 06 \u2013 Geography","jmi_i6_heading":"Over 1,100 cyber security roles are open on Indeed UK, with London and the South East paying the most","jmi_i6_intro":"This snapshot of open UK vacancies across major job boards was taken in August 2026. Job-board counts fluctuate daily and overlap across platforms, so treat them as directional rather than a single unduplicated total. Regional hiring remains concentrated but is spreading: London and the South East still command the largest share and the highest pay, with finance, banking and central government the biggest employers, while Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and Edinburgh have all built genuine regional clusters as organisations stand up distributed security operations centres. Hybrid working has widened access to roles outside the traditional hubs, though senior SOC and incident-response leadership positions still skew toward major cities. Sector-wide vacancy volumes are reported up roughly 11% year on year.","jmi_i6_card_1_tag":"Highest volume","jmi_i6_card_1_value":"1,173","jmi_i6_card_1_title":"Source: Indeed UK, August 2026","jmi_i6_card_1_desc":"The largest of the three job boards sampled, reflecting the concentration of demand in London and the South East.","jmi_i6_card_1_salary":"Source: Indeed UK, August 2026","jmi_i6_card_2_tag":"Job board","jmi_i6_card_2_value":"1,074","jmi_i6_card_2_title":"Open roles on Glassdoor UK","jmi_i6_card_2_desc":"A second large pool of listings, with counts that overlap with Indeed UK and CWJobs.","jmi_i6_card_2_salary":"Source: Glassdoor UK, August 2026","jmi_i6_card_3_tag":"London hub","jmi_i6_card_3_value":"918","jmi_i6_card_3_title":"Open roles on CWJobs","jmi_i6_card_3_desc":"Of the 918 roles listed, 225 are based in London, with the rest spread across regional clusters and remote or hybrid positions.","jmi_i6_card_3_salary":"London roles: 225","jmi_method_badge":"Methodology & Data Engine","jmi_method_heading":"A market that has matured rather than cooled","jmi_method_intro":"The raw people-shortage that dominated headlines a few years ago (11,100 short in 2022) has narrowed to 3,800, but breach rates haven\u2019t fallen to match, boards are taking the risk more seriously than ever, and AI is simultaneously raising the skills bar and creating a new specialism in AI governance and security. Sector revenue and productivity are growing faster than headcount, which points to rising pay for specialised, higher-skill roles even as overall job growth moderates. For anyone assessing a move into the field, the throughline across every 2026 report is the same: generalist entry-level competition is intensifying, while specialist, cloud, AI-security and incident-response skills remain the areas where the UK is still visibly short.\r\nAll figures are drawn from named primary or industry sources published in 2026 unless otherwise stated, including DSIT, the Home Office, ITJobsWatch, Morgan McKinley, Indeed UK, Glassdoor UK and CWJobs. Where two credible sources report different numbers for the same metric, both are shown with their methodology noted rather than silently picking one. Cyber security statistics update at least annually, so check gov.uk for the latest edition of any DSIT report before citing figures beyond 2026.","jmi_method_box_label":"THE FOLLOWING ROLES ARE REFERENCED IN THIS ANALYSIS:","jmi_method_title_1":"Cyber Security Analyst","jmi_method_title_2":"Cyber Security Engineer","jmi_method_title_3":"Security Manager","jmi_method_title_4":"Cyber Security Architect","jmi_method_title_5":"Head of Security \/ CISO","jmi_method_title_6":"SOC Analyst","jmi_method_title_7":"Junior Penetration Tester","jmi_method_title_8":"Security Architect","jmi_method_title_9":"Incident Response Specialist","jmi_method_title_10":"AI Security","jmi_method_source":"Role data source: ITJobsWatch job-market statistics for permanent UK jobs citing Cybersecurity, six months to 7 October 2026. \u201cCybersecurity\u201d appeared in 6,545 of the permanent UK job advertisements (5.56%), with a median annual salary of \u00a360,000. itjobswatch.co.uk","cp_badge":"","cp_heading":"","cp_description":"","cp_cta_subtext":"","cp_intro_heading":"","cp_intro_description":"","cp_overview_badge":"","cp_overview_heading":"","cp_overview_subheading":"","cp_overview_description":"","cp_fit_badge":"","cp_fit_heading":"","cp_fit_subheading":"","cp_fit_description":"","cp_key_attribute_1":"","cp_key_attribute_2":"","cp_key_attribute_3":"","cp_key_attribute_4":"","cp_key_attribute_5":"","cp_resp_sublabel":"","cp_resp_intro":"","cp_resp_col1_item_1":"","cp_resp_col1_item_2":"","cp_resp_col1_item_3":"","cp_resp_col1_item_4":"","cp_resp_col2_item_1":"","cp_resp_col2_item_2":"","cp_resp_col2_item_3":"","cp_resp_col2_item_4":"","cp_fit_closing_note":"","cp_qual_badge":"","cp_qual_heading":"","cp_qual_subheading":"","cp_qual_description":"","cp_related_career_1":"","cp_related_career_2":"","cp_related_career_3":"","cp_recommended_course_1_text":"","cp_recommended_course_1_link":"","cp_recommended_course_2_text":"","cp_recommended_course_2_link":"","cp_recommended_course_3_text":"","cp_recommended_course_3_link":"","cp_qual_cta_heading":"","cp_qual_cta_text":"","cp_courses_heading":"","cp_courses_viewall_link":"","cp_course_1_category":"","cp_course_1_level":"","cp_course_1_title":"","cp_course_1_subtitle":"","cp_course_1_description":"","cp_course_1_feature_1":"","cp_course_1_feature_2":"","cp_course_1_bottom_label":"","cp_course_1_course_link":"","cp_course_2_category":"","cp_course_2_level":"","cp_course_2_title":"","cp_course_2_subtitle":"","cp_course_2_description":"","cp_course_2_feature_1":"","cp_course_2_feature_2":"","cp_course_2_bottom_label":"","cp_course_2_course_link":"","cp_course_3_category":"","cp_course_3_level":"","cp_course_3_title":"","cp_course_3_subtitle":"","cp_course_3_description":"","cp_course_3_feature_1":"","cp_course_3_feature_2":"","cp_course_3_bottom_label":"","cp_course_3_course_link":"","cp_hub_heading":"","cp_hub_description":"","cp_hub_image":false,"cp_salary_image":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/1150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fortray.com\/career-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}