British civil service to target cyber specialists with new graduate scheme

The British civil service’s Fast Stream program — a prestigious scheme for “graduates who have potential to become leaders of the Civil Service” —  is set to launch a specific cybersecurity track when applications open later this year.

The move to include a scheme for applicants with specialist cyber skills, which was first reported by Public Technology, comes amid concerns about a shortage of these skills in both the public and private sector workforces.

The Fast Stream website currently teases two new specialist schemes for applicants in “cyber security” and “risk management” when applications open in a few months time. 

Full details about the new schemes are expected in early September, ahead of the formal recruitment campaign launching on October 10.

Starting salaries for Fast Stream employees are around £31,000 ($40,000) which according to Glassdoor is significantly lower than salaries for entry-level cyber specialists in the private sector, particularly in London.

Last year, the then-deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, said the government was “examining what more we can do to improve salaries and other parts of our offer, so that we can continue to attract the very best cyber experts into the civil service.”

It is unclear whether additional pay will be made available to Fast Stream cyber specialists.

Dowden’s comments came in the wake of significant criticism after His Majesty’s Treasury advertised a role as the head of cybersecurity with a stated salary of £57,000 ($74,000) — significantly less than what a similar role would be paid in the private sector.

The discrepancy with the United States was also spotted, with an infosec supervisor position at the U.S. Department of the Treasury being listed with a salary of up to $183,000 (£147,000) per year.

Speaking to Recorded Future News about personnel challenges in the public sector, the former head of the National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin, said in May: “You can't compete with the private sector salaries. It would be ridiculous, it would be a national scandal, if people thought the taxpayer was funding those types of salaries.

“The fact is that some of the government work is inherently interesting… I think we can look at the people who are employed in the cyber sphere in state service with a lot of pride.”