The Tech Industry’s Downturn May Mean A Tech Resurgence Elsewhere

Jim Barkdoll is the CEO for Axiomatics, the leader in delivering next-generation authorization. Follow Jim on LinkedIn.

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It feels like a challenging time to work for a technology company. As I scroll through LinkedIn, I see more than a few people posting about the impact that organizational restructuring has had on them and that they’re now open to new opportunities. Indeed, as sizeable workforce reductions at Amazon, Twitter and more continue to make the news, there’s no doubt we will see more people add the “Open to Work” badge to their LinkedIn profiles.

Though it’s hard to position this as a win for the tech industry, what if these cuts create an opportunity? What if all of these people being “open to work” means greater prospects for other industries? I believe this will be the case in 2023. Here’s why.

The End Of Tech Hoarding

One of the great things about being in the technology industry is that for years, these companies have prioritized hiring the best and the brightest to develop exciting projects and stay ahead of competitors. A great engineering, marketing or development job at an innovative startup or brand-name behemoth often paid well and included both traditional benefits and sought-after perks (including daycares and gyms on-site, equity in a growing brand, etc.). As a result, amazing minds working in Silicon Valley (and beyond) on groundbreaking initiatives stayed within the industry that offered them so much.

The downside to all of this was that a separation was created between tech companies that commandeered top talent and, well, everyone else. That’s not to say that great innovation only happened in the technology industry; we know that’s not true. However, some of those same companies shedding workers in 2022 stockpiled many innovative and creative minds for years.

Now looking for work, many of these workers want to continue to innovate and will have a bevy of opportunities before them outside of the technology industry but still working on innovative technology initiatives.

A New Opportunity Awaits

The 2021 attack on the Colonial Pipeline validated what many of us in the security sector had said for years—that every organization is a potential target for hackers and other bad actors. In the time since this attack, it’s clear this is particularly true for the supply chain. In fact, Gartner, Inc. predicts that “by 2025, 45% of organizations worldwide will have experienced attacks on their software supply chains.” That’s a sobering thought.

Though key industries such as manufacturing and utilities understand the urgency behind implementing better security, they may not know where to start. They’ve long understood they need sharp staff members who understand what it takes to implement a more modern security structure, but they often can’t offer the same allure (high salary, perks, equity) as their technology counterparts.

Now, with fewer opportunities in technology, not only do organizations outside of tech have a more level playing field, but I argue they have an advantage as they offer something more—the opportunity to address one of the biggest technology challenges of our time. With a work-from-anywhere workforce and unprecedented demand for a variety of items to be delivered immediately, many critical items are in short supply—making the supply chain especially vulnerable to threats. A case in point is the low supply of children’s medication across North America. With over-the-counter fever medications in short supply and hard to find, imagine the chaos that would ensue if these manufacturers or their supply chains were the victims of a hack or breach.

Therein lies the opportunity. Unable to offer the same bells and whistles as their tech counterparts, manufacturers and others were particularly impacted by the dearth of skilled security practitioners for years. That doesn’t have to be the case moving forward. Moreover, a wealth of seasoned professionals means these industries don’t need to strive for parity with tech giants; rather, they can look for opportunities to innovate—creating better and more secure processes and architectures.

The Impact Of Inflation

While all of this sounds well and good, I understand if there’s skepticism as the world nervously awaits the impact that inflation will have on the economy in the next year. Here’s the thing, though—even in the face of economic uncertainty, organizations will continue to recognize the critical urgency behind allocating budget to security issues. In fact, a recent SWZD survey of 1,400 IT professionals found that inflation will be overshadowed by more prominent factors expected to increase IT budget growth in 2023, including increased security concerns.

The reason is simple: Though there was a lot of talk from vendors (and particularly security vendors) in the last decade on the importance of digital transformation initiatives infusing security in every step, the reality is that security remained an afterthought for many enterprises. Additionally, digital transformation and cloud initiatives were a priority, but there wasn’t yet widespread adoption. The pandemic changed all of this, forcing even the most immature digital transformation projects to fruition. Security was an afterthought as organizations raced to ensure their employees, customers and partners could still access what they needed to do their jobs.

Now, organizations are taking the time to consider how secure all of their efforts are, particularly when it comes to access control. While initiatives including zero trust provide a solid framework, implementing these strategies requires skill and experience.

All of this creates a bit of a perfect storm for industries looking to uplevel their security practices and processes as well as security professionals looking for new opportunities. It is never easy to be impacted by layoffs, but I believe that the creative and talented individuals now looking for their next endeavor will have the opportunity to do innovative, meaningful work that can make a difference in our day-to-day lives and maybe create the next evolution of security and access control.

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