How Difficult Is It to Hire OT Security Talent in the UK?
If you’re struggling to fill a role, we’re here to tell you that the process probably isn’t the problem since there’s a noticeable OT security talent shortage in the UK.
The pool of candidates with both cyber security knowledge and hands-on industrial systems experience is small, and it’s even smaller in the UK than in the US or mainland Europe. The ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study verifies the scale of the issue, reporting that 95% of UK organisations reported at least one OT security skills gap. On top of that, 58% rate their shortages as critical or significant.
Adding more context, SANS’ 2026 global workforce research found a shift in how organisations describe the problem: 60% now say their teams lack the right skills, against 40% who say they simply don’t have enough people. That reversal matters for OT hiring specifically. It points to a quality problem rather than a headcount problem, and that’s exactly why hiring OT engineers and analysts is so difficult at the moment.
Why the UK lags Europe and the US
Two structural factors explain most of the OT security talent shortage. The UK has a smaller manufacturing base than Germany or the US, so there’s simply less industrial infrastructure generating OT and ICS security roles in the first place.
Because of this, UK regulation has also moved later than the EU’s NIS2 directive, which pushed European organisations to build out OT security teams over the past few years. The UK’s own Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is still working its way through Parliament, reaching House of Lords committee in September, and once it lands, it will extend obligations to a wider set of organisations, including OT suppliers and managed service providers.
Businesses that haven’t had to hire for this yet are about to be competing for the same small pool as everyone else.
The money pouring in isn’t helping
Yet, there’s more investment is going into OT security than ever. That means finding the right candidate becomes even trickier.
Accenture’s $4.175 billion acquisition of Dragos, runZero and NetRise this year is the clearest example. It’s one of the largest institutional bets ever placed on OT security, signalling a market moving from niche to mainstream. The OT cybersecurity sector is on track to grow from roughly $27 billion in 2026 to nearly $59 billion by 2031.
Every bit of that investment capital eventually needs people behind it to run it. Vendors building out platforms need OT specialists to deliver and support them. End-users, encouraged by that kind of institutional confidence, are opening up their own OT security budgets faster than the market can supply qualified candidates.
More investment means more demand, driving the UK’s OT and ICS security workforce shortage.
The two-part scarcity problem
The core issue of the OT security talent shortage in the UK isn’t a lack of cyber security professionals, and it isn’t a lack of industrial engineers. Rather, there are too few people who are both.
Cyber security skills are relatively easy to find on their own, and so is hands-on experience with SCADA, ICS or PLC environments, but the overlap between the two is thin. There is a specific OT security skills gap in the market. Because a strong IT security analyst without industrial exposure will misjudge what’s safe to isolate or patch. Conversely, a strong controls engineer without security training will miss how an attacker actually moves through a network.
Neither is wrong for the role, but what they currently bring to the table isn’t complete yet.
What this means practically for employers
Timelines need to be realistic: if a search is dragging past eight to ten weeks, that’s usually the market. Start hiring before it becomes critical.
The IT-to-OT pipeline is worth taking seriously, too. The IT security market is more saturated than OT. This means that there are a number of brilliant IT security professionals who are actively looking to cross over, especially once they see the certifications and career progression on offer.
But most importantly, specialist support is still the best way to combat the OT and ICS security workforce shortage. Generalist recruiters without OT-specific market knowledge will struggle to tell the difference between a candidate who’s actually done the work and one who’s added the right keywords to a CV. That’s the gap specialist recruiters are built to close, and it’s why Paradigm Tech works exclusively in this niche rather than treating OT as one line item inside a broader cybersecurity desk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there OT security talent shortage in the UK?
The UK has a smaller pool of candidates who combine cyber security knowledge with hands-on industrial systems experience, and a smaller manufacturing base than the US or mainland Europe to begin with.
Is the OT security skills gap about headcount or skills?
Global research increasingly points to skills quality rather than raw headcount as the bigger issue. The challenge isn’t just finding more candidates, it’s finding candidates with the right combination of experience.
Does more investment in OT security make it easier to hire?
Not directly. Investment like Accenture’s $4.175 billion acquisition of Dragos tends to create more demand, as vendors and end-users both scale up hiring, which puts more pressure on an already small pool of qualified candidates.
How long should an OT security hire take in the UK?
Searches regularly run eight to ten weeks or longer given the size of the qualified pool. Budgeting realistic timelines from the outset avoids losing candidates to faster-moving competitors later in the process.
Can IT security professionals move into OT security?
Yes, and it’s an increasingly common route. The IT security market is more saturated than OT, and IT security professionals who add OT-specific certifications like GICSP are a growing source of qualified candidates.
Ready to talk?
At Paradigm Tech, OT security is all we do.
We specialise in connecting high-performing, well-qualified candidates with the systems that need them most, and we’d love to help you! Whether you’re a candidate or looking for top candidates, get in touch:
About the author
Charlie Hackett founded Paradigm Tech with his long-time friend and business partner, Ben. His background in IT and cyber security recruitment gave him a sharp appreciation for the technical specificity of OT security. It’s not IT security with a different name: getting it right takes specific certifications and deep knowledge of the physical assets OT systems manage. At Paradigm Tech, OT recruitment is the only thing they do, which is how they move quickly to deliver strong, qualified candidates. Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn.
