The US cybersecurity job market is experiencing a sharp contraction, but demand for professionals who can secure artificial intelligence systems is moving in the opposite direction, according to new data from CyberSN.
The company's cybersecurity jobs report recorded 235,786 job postings between January and September 2026, a 26.4% decline from the 320,210 listings reported during the same period in 2025. The total marks a four-year low, highlighting a tougher employment environment for many cybersecurity professionals even as specialized skills attract growing interest.
AI Security Engineer postings, however, increased by 268.3% year over year, while demand for Cyber Data Scientists climbed 203.5%.
AI Expertise Gains Ground Across Cybersecurity
Although overall recruitment activity has weakened, employers continue to seek workers with artificial intelligence knowledge. Nearly 15% of cybersecurity job advertisements referenced AI during the first nine months of 2026, broadly in line with the 15.1% recorded a year earlier.
The trend accelerated toward the end of the period, with AI references reaching 20% of postings in September.
CyberSN's analysis found that AI-related requirements featured prominently across several functional areas. Research roles led, with 32.7% of postings referencing AI, an increase of 11.7 percentage points compared with the previous year.
Offensive security roles followed at 23.3%, up 4.8 percentage points. Governance, risk and compliance positions recorded an AI reference rate of 19.8%, while planning roles reached 18.9%.
The figures suggest that AI knowledge is becoming relevant across multiple cybersecurity disciplines rather than remaining confined to dedicated AI engineering positions.
Remote Opportunities Differ Across Specialties
Remote work remains an important consideration in the cybersecurity employment market, although availability varies by job function.
Sales roles had the highest proportion of remote listings, at 32.8%, followed by governance, risk and compliance at 31.2%.
Other functions with notable remote-work availability included offensive security at 24.7%, product security at 22.9%, education at 22.8%, research at 21.9% and defense at 21.3%.
These figures offer some indication of where candidates may find location-flexible opportunities despite the broader decline in advertised roles.
Several Established Cybersecurity Roles See Steep Declines
The contraction has affected numerous traditional cybersecurity positions, with some experiencing substantially larger declines than the overall market.
Cyber Insider Threat Analyst postings fell 55.6% to 1,088, while Cyber Risk Analyst listings declined 51.5% to 4,031.
Penetration Tester advertisements dropped 45.9% to 3,063, and Cybersecurity Lead positions decreased 41% to 4,688. Threat Hunter postings fell 40% to 1,013, while Cybersecurity Project Manager listings declined 39.4% to 783.
Chief Information Security Officer positions, including CSO, BSO and ISO titles, recorded a 38.9% decrease to 2,832 postings.
However, the CISO figures require context. The report notes that 2025 was an unusually strong year for leadership recruitment. The 2026 total is almost identical to the 2,808 postings recorded in 2024, while CISO listings increased by 19.5% between the second and third quarters of 2026.
This suggests that the latest annual decline does not necessarily indicate a sustained collapse in demand for senior security leadership.
Report Measures Skills Rather Than Job Titles
CyberSN compiled its data from JobSpikr, removing duplicate listings before classifying advertisements into a framework covering 45 cybersecurity functional roles across ten categories.
The approach is intended to identify the work employers need done rather than rely exclusively on the job titles chosen by recruiting companies.
CyberSN emphasizes that its report describes changes in advertised demand but does not establish why those changes occurred. The data alone, therefore, cannot determine whether falling listings reflect reduced hiring budgets, organizational restructuring, or other factors.
The report notes that leadership recruitment can also reflect how corporate boards approach cybersecurity accountability, but it does not claim to establish a single cause for the wider decline.
AI Security Specialists Stand Out in a Shrinking Market
The findings present a mixed outlook for cybersecurity job seekers. Overall vacancies have fallen substantially, and several established roles have experienced particularly sharp reductions. At the same time, demand for professionals who combine cybersecurity expertise with AI-related skills has expanded rapidly.
For candidates, AI security engineering and cyber data science appear to be notable areas of growth in the current data. Those pursuing traditional positions, particularly some leadership and specialist roles, may face a more competitive market.
However, job-posting figures are not a direct measure of actual hiring or total employment. The clearest conclusion from CyberSN's analysis is that cybersecurity recruitment is contracting overall while demand is shifting toward particular technical capabilities, especially those associated with artificial intelligence.
Source: Security Week