PRESS RELEASE

HOUSTON, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) national industry intermediary, Safal Partners, announced today that it has helped shrink our nation's critical cybersecurity workforce gap by bringing more than 1,000 new apprentices into the field over the past 12 months. Of those, 83% of new apprentices came from a diverse or historically underrepresented population, including women, minorities, Veterans, or people with disabilities.

Today's announcement was made in conjunction with Safal's participation at a White House event celebrating the culmination of the National Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint launched by the White House, DOL, and U.S. Department of Commerce in July.

"We are enormously proud of our work to create a stronger and more diverse, work-ready cybersecurity and tech workforce for public and private employers nationwide," said Mukta Pandit, President of Safal Partners. "In a field that has struggled to create a more inclusionary workplace, we can point to the fact that 8 in 10 of the new apprentices we supported are from populations that are not well-represented in cyber roles."

Safal brought the new apprentices into the workforce both through its own national Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program and through development of 20 new or expanded RA programs over the past year sponsored by employers and training providers, including the first-ever national program for people with visual impairments sponsored by the Blind Institute of Technology.

Safal also announced a new partnership with the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) to accelerate industry awareness and adoption of apprenticeship for hiring and training cyber professionals. According to Cyberseek.org there are currently more than 769,000 open cyber roles.

ISSA is a globally recognized industry nonprofit organization committed to promoting effective cybersecurity and workforce development. Safal's partnership includes work to support the association's new Apprenticeship, Internship and Mentorship initiative to be announced shortly.

ISSA is launching this initiative to bridge the gap from all paths to employment as a cyber professional. "There is a critical need to provide an opportunity to gain valuable skills and experience to begin a career in cybersecurity. Quality apprenticeships, internships and mentoring programs are the key to building the future cybersecurity workforce," said Candy Alexander, ISSA International President. "We are pleased to be partnering with Safal to launch this program."

"ISSA recognizes and is actively working toward addressing our national need for more skilled cyber professionals," said Katie Adams, Senior Director. "As the DOL cyber industry intermediary, we look forward to providing ISSA members no-cost expertise, program support, and access to resources and funding streams to adopt registered apprenticeship."

To learn more about Safal Partners RA program, visit https://cyber.safalpartners.com/national-program or contact Katie Adams, Senior Director at [email protected].

SOURCE: Safal Partners