Eric Hysen, the Department of Homeland Security chief information officer, aims to increase the number of digital security workers through the Cybersecurity Talent Management System, Nextgov said Wednesday.
CTMS received congressional approval a decade ago but didn’t begin in earnest until 2021. Since then it has yielded 345 job offers and secured 189 employees working at the Office of the Office of the Chief Information Officer at DHS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
DHS’ first hire under CTMS took six months. Although the system generates talent, Hysen said CTMS operations could have started faster.
“It took us too long from receiving the authority to launch the program and begin hiring under it, and our initial rate of hires has been slower than expected,” Hysen noted.
However, CTMS has a reported 94 percent, two-year retention rate, besting tech industry standards. With about half of the program hires being entry-level, Hysen anticipates CTMS can grow a network of future cybersecurity talent.
With almost 2,000 cybersecurity vacancies in the department, Hysen said that DHS “has committed to expanding CTMS” to incorporate other agency services and grow the system to include artificial intelligence and data science practitioners and job-seekers.
The DHS cybersecurity service currently has five cybersecurity career tracks — entry, developmental, technical, leadership and executive.