Cybersecurity becomes more essential to our economy and our critical infrastructure - like financial institutions, personal data, and even our elections - everyday. As the demand for cybersecurity workers grows to meet these threats, the President is committed to seeing a more inclusive, robust, and skilled workforce to protect our personal and national interests.
On July 19th at the National Cyber Workforce and Education Summit, the Administration gathered Cabinet Secretaries and major companies to discuss ways to improve pathways into this critical sector, and announced the start of its Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint. Today marks the finish line of the Sprint, an initiative run by the U.S. Department of Labor in coordination with the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, Defense, and other federal agencies. An event held today at the White House as part of National Apprenticeship Week and the celebration of the 85th Anniversary of the National Apprenticeship Act, public and private sector leaders will showcase the accomplishments of DOL's 120-Day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint, and discuss lessons learned, best practices, and paths forward. The event will include 1) remarks from senior White House and agency officials on the importance of Registered Apprenticeship in building a skilled and diverse cybersecurity workforce and the accomplishments of the Sprint; 2) a moderated panel discussion highlighting progress and advantages of building cybersecurity talent using Registered Apprenticeship programs; 3) apprentice spotlight; and 4) signing ceremony of representatives from new programs involving several employers and education organizations.
This effort has once again demonstrated overwhelming potential and success in promoting Registered Apprenticeships. The Sprint was rooted in the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to expand Registered Apprenticeships, a proven earn-while-you-learn model that aims to build a pipeline of skilled workers with a focus on underserved communities. According to CyberSeek.org, the cybersecurity market grew at 2.4 times the rates of the rest of the job market in the last year. This leaves nearly 770,000 open cybersecurity positions at all career levels. The nation's economic and national security is dependent on solving this workforce challenge and employers are turning to Registered Apprenticeships to meet this critical workforce needs.
Major Achievements of Biden Effort to Expand and Improve Cybersecurity Jobs:
- As a result of the Sprint, 194 new cybersecurity Registered Apprenticeship programs have been approved or are under development.
- Through our efforts, new and pre-existing program sponsors are expanding their programs by adding 120 cybersecurity-related occupations to pre-existing and new Registered Apprenticeship programs.
- The work of the sprint has resulted in over 7,000 apprentices getting hired, over 1,000 of whom were from the private sector. Of these private sector apprentices, 42% were people of color and 32% female. Prior to this Sprint, 27% of all cybersecurity apprentices were people of color and 28% women, which reflects the impact of this sprint and the power of the public and private sector working together and partnering with community-based organizations to reach diverse populations.
- Major organizations have created new or expanded pre-existing Registered Apprenticeships
- Employers and other organizations that expanded programs include IBM, NPower, CompTIA, and the Department of Defense.
- Those that launched new programs include Austin Community College, Boeing, BuildWithin, Cisco Systems, Cyversity, Industrial Automation & Cybersecurity for America Foundation, (ISC)2, Island Mountain Development Group (IMDG), McDonalds, Manpower Group, Minorities in Cybersecurity, NPower Texas, Per Scholas, Spark Mindset, Per Scholas, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and many more.
- Over 2,000 organizations and career seekers expressed an interest in learning more about Registered Apprenticeship.
- Many others have committed to supporting the cybersecurity Registered Apprenticeship ecosystem through promotional activities and participating in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility expansion efforts.
The largest cybersecurity Registered Apprenticeship program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)'s United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP). Under the umbrella of DoD's USMAP, DoD and DOL partnered to establish the first Federal Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program in January 2022. Since inception, DOD identified and developed standards for 15 critical cybersecurity occupations to not only address military needs, but potentially serve as a model for other Federal agencies as well. All 15 have been finalized and approved, 10 of which were approved during the Sprint. DOL and DOD are working to finalize the remaining occupational standards over the next several weeks.
Furthermore, the DOD issued a memo - jointly signed by the Chief Information Officer and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment - aimed at expanding the cybersecurity workforce by encouraging the use of Registered Apprenticeship programs. These efforts will help DOD and the Defense Industrial Base continue to identify, recruit, develop, and retain the cybersecurity workforce in order to support the Nation's efforts to defend against current and future cyber threats and attacks.
New Program Highlights
As a direct result of the Sprint, the following employers, Federal Agencies, and other organizations have accomplished the following to meet their critical cybersecurity workforce needs, many in partnership with DOL industry intermediaries AIR, Apprenti, and Safal Partners:
- Cisco Systems, Inc., a worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet, became a new national Registered Apprenticeship sponsor. Now public and private entities from every sector hiring for key tech positions including Cybersecurity Analysts, IT Help Desk Technicians and Network Administrators can utilize Cisco's program through its 2,200+ Cisco Networking Academies, located in secondary and post-secondary schools and institutions nationwide, to more quickly and easily source diverse, work-ready apprentices.
- CompTIA created a new national Registered Apprenticeship program called "CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech" with 5 cybersecurity-related occupations. River Valley School District was the first public school district in the U.S. to join it in an effort to develop talent and provide training for high-demand occupations in the tech industry.
- McDonald's Corporation will launch its first registered apprenticeship program in the U.S. in Cybersecurity, bringing in high-performing talent from Chicago City Colleges to McDonald's Headquarters.
- Howard Community College (HCC) is offering a Information Technology (IT) Apprenticeship Program in partnership with local networking and technology firms, AT&T and SCD IT, in four career tracks: IT Field Support Specialist, Network Field Support Specialist, Information Systems Security Engineer, and Linux System Administrator.
- IBM's Apprenticeship Program, launched in 2017, the program has expanded to 30 Registered Apprenticeship roles including data science, design and cybersecurity. IBM has committed to investing $250 million in apprenticeship and New Collar programs by 2025.
- Island Mountain Development Group (IMDG) joined Safal Partners' National Program and is one of the first cybersecurity apprenticeship program for the Native American community. IMDG was founded in 2009 by the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council as an autonomous for-profit economic development corporation to serve the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) Nations in Montana. IMDG's mission is to build a self-sustaining local economy through the creation of business opportunities, jobs, and resource development. This new apprenticeship program is part of IMDG and Tribal Members' work to create true, generational change and economic prosperity in the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) worked through a P3 Collaboration to design and establish the first civilian federal cybersecurity apprenticeship program. The scalable and sustainable model will provide a pathway to quickly hire a diverse, underserved population of Veterans into the federal government into cybersecurity roles to protect our nation's most vulnerable systems' dependability, integrity, and data privacy. The first cohort of 8-10 apprentices will begin February 2023.
The U.S. Department of Labor National Office and contracted intermediaries spoke about the value of cybersecurity Registered Apprenticeship and how to engage in the Sprint at over 100 events over the course of the 120 days, often joined by colleagues at the U.S. Department of Commerce. These efforts complement the Administration's broad, ongoing efforts to expand Registered Apprenticeship to build a skilled, diverse workforce in high-demand areas such as cybersecurity.
Visit www.apprenticeship.gov to start a program, become an apprentice, or learn more about the 120-Day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint.
