Army struggles to hire cyber staff as attacks in Britain rise

The Army is scrambling to hire cybersecurity experts amid intense business competitionhis head of recruiting has admitted.

Richard Holroyd, managing director of Defense and Security at Capita, which handles recruitment for the Armed Forces, said he was having a hard time attracting candidates given the large number of jobs on offer.

He told the Telegraph: “You’re saying to interested people, come and be a cyber specialist in the military, but Raytheon says come and be a cyber specialist, BT says come and be a cyber specialist. So in those spaces, you’re competing.

“In a labor market with full employment it’s a very, very difficult move.”

Holroyd said Capita was on track to meet just 80% of his Army recruiting goal this year, in part because of difficulties filling technical roles.

He said: “Anything related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is a highly competitive environment. So STEM skills are hard.”

Capita’s exact target was not provided and the Defense Ministry declined to comment.

The admission comes despite the growing importance of cybernetics for both offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Defense Minister said last month that there was an “urgent requirement to continue to modernize the force to keep pace with technological developments.”

Boosting digital skills is a “priority matter” over the next three years, the officials wrote in the Defense Command document.

Holroyd said cybersecurity experts have “a lot more choice” than in years past and conceded that private sector companies have proven quicker at recruiting, sometimes submitting offers in as little as a few weeks.