Mind the Gap

Cyber attacks are on the rise - and it will take a thriving UK workforce to combat them.

To tackle the critical shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals, Raytheon launched a new cyber security apprenticeship programme in the UK.

The new programme will provide opportunities for 70 cyber apprentices each year, with plans in place to certify around 280 over four years.

“By 2021, there will be an estimated shortage of 3 million information security workers worldwide,” said James Gray, managing director, cyber and intelligence, Raytheon UK. “Our apprenticeship programme provides training that will both attract and prepare a new generation of cybersecurity experts in the UK who can keep us ahead of emerging threats.”

The new two-year programme will offer an alternative career path to three and four-year degree courses. Apprenticeships like this develop in-house skills to face the mounting threat posed by cyberattacks. There are two specialist tracks: cyber intrusion analysts and cybersecurity technologists.

Apprentices will be paid full-time employees and will build skills by combining job experience with teaching sessions and lab time. At the end of the two-year course, successful candidates will be certified as qualified security practitioners.

Raytheon’s education investments include a Cyber Academy, which provides university students an intense three-day workshop and capstone exercise on security skills, as well as bursaries offered to support specialist cyber education, workshops and mini-camps.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister, Anne Milton said, “Cybersecurity skills are in increasing demand from UK businesses, so it is brilliant that Raytheon is leading the way and offering this high-quality apprenticeship programme. This is a fantastic opportunity for apprentices to gain the cutting-edge skills they need to kick-start a highly sought after and rewarding career.”

Raytheon already provides hundreds of UK apprenticeships in engineering, in partnership with commercial businesses, as well as the UK’s armed forces.

If you have a passion to help us fight cybercrime, check out our cyber roles. The typical cyber role is changing, but we’re not your typical cyber company. Statistics reveal that one in five current cybersecurity workers move into the field from a different sector. So, whether you’re from an engineering background or not, we want to hear from you. One prerequisite: fearless creativity.