Sudipta Paul Choudhury, the marketing director of QNu Labs, stated in a column for The Quantum Insider that quantum cybersecurity will be one of the most sought-after specializations of the next decade. She believes that the transition of the U.S. and the European Union to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) will be a key driver.
In August 2024, NIST approved the first standards for post-quantum cryptography, moving the industry from academia to practical application. According to an executive order from former U.S. President Donald Trump, federal systems must transition to the new standards by the end of 2030. The European Union has set a similar deadline for migrating critical infrastructure.
This regulatory pressure is driven by the risk of the HNDL threat, where attackers collect encrypted data today to decrypt it once powerful quantum computers become available.
According to a report by McKinsey, the economic impact of quantum computing could reach $2.7 trillion by 2035. The market is already facing a talent shortage, with three job openings for every qualified candidate.
By 2035, the global economy will need around 840,000 specialized employees, while the current workforce in the industry is less than 17,000. This talent gap makes quantum security specialists some of the highest-paid professionals in the job market. The shortage is occurring amid a broader crisis in cybersecurity, where the global deficit has already reached 4.7 million professionals.
Choudhury noted that demand in this field will grow not only for cryptographers but also for migration engineers, systems architects, and compliance specialists.
India is highlighted as one of the main training centers for this workforce. The country's National Quantum Mission, with a budget of over $700 million, brings together dozens of research institutes and aims to create intercity quantum key distribution networks.
It is worth noting that in June, IBM stated that business readiness is a condition for achieving quantum advantage.