It's been a rocky month in the tech-verse, but there seems to be a silver lining for CISOs navigating the recent economic downturn according to a new blog from Forrester. 

Three analysts dove into how security leaders and practitioners should take action amid a turmoil that has led to hundreds of layoffs in cyber unicorns — cybersecurity startups valued at over $1 billion.

This time last year, cybersecurity startups were flourishing, noted analysts Jeff Pollard, Jess Burn, and Allie Mellon. In November of 2021, Lacework closed a $1.3 billion Series D round on an $8.3 billion valuation. Cybereason raised $275 million led by Liberty Strategic Capital in July of 2021 for a total of $750.6 million, and Onetrust raised over $920 million in a Series C extension led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Today, however, the hyper-growth phase these vendors have seen over the last 12 months has stopped – and quite abruptly, analysts noted. Early warnings from big tech companies left some of the startup’s leaders to attempt to cut costs to optimize their businesses. And what’s the easiest way to cut costs? Cut staff.

This month’s headlines show how profitability is prioritized over hypergrowth for many cybersecurity vendors and that headcount reductions present themselves as an easy way to capitalize on profitability. In the past few weeks, Lacework has cut 20% of its staff, Cybereason another 10% cut, and OneTrust cut one-quarter of their workforce days after RSA Conference 2022 concluded, according to the blog. 

"Lacework, Cybereason, OneTrust — three vendors, over $3 billon dollars in funding, and over a thousand out of work," Forrester analysts wrote.

They also suggested several “tips” that organizations can lean on to benefit from the hiring pool that has deepened significantly due to the recent cuts. 

First, businesses should hire talent that the cyber unicorns are letting go of. More so, talent should not be ignored if they lack experience on a corporate cybersecurity team. The staffing and skills gap in the industry is large, and businesses should open their doors to hires from different organizations that most likely will have diverse backgrounds with ample experience from other regions, verticals, and people.

Forrester also noted that companies need to buckle down and use the industry’s instability as a retention tool, and this means vocalizing commitment to current employees. It should be clear that there is a path for advancement for current employees, which includes offering more flexibility, market adjustments to salaries, and providing training and upskilling during the work day. 

The inability to predict what the economy will face over the next year will, and should, keep companies on their toes. Vendor relationships are expected to worsen, says Forrester, and it's time to apply some pressure when evaluating vendor relationships and performance. Because of slowing sale cycles, vendors will be eager to renew and lengthen current contracts. 

If companies can shrink spending with vendors during this questionable economy, they can walk out of this with a workforce intact, rather than throwing in the white flag and surrendering to the “great resignation.”