That’s according to a new survey by the Ponemon Institute in partnership with DomainTools. The survey includes responses from more than 1,400 IT and IT security professionals involved in attracting, hiring, promoting and retaining IT security personnel within their companies. Respondents are based in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Asia-Pacific region.

All told, 78% of respondents indicated that their teams are understaffed, as Information Age reports. But, just 35% of respondents said they expect automation to lower headcount for their IT security function, while 40% actually predict requiring more employees with advanced technical skills.

Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, said in a statement that views on automation had “notably shifted” since last year’s survey. “Contrary to the popular belief that the rise of automation will threaten the job market, organizations now feel these technologies will help ease the current strain on resources,” he said.

What’s more, a recent white paper by the SANS Institute warns against thinking that cybersecurity automation will be a walk in the park, reports Dark Reading. “Automation takes a tremendous amount of effort to arrive at the point where it makes things look easy,” writes SANS analyst Barbara Filkins. “Don’t underestimate the resources needed to define the processes—in the light of more effective tools—and close the semantic gaps in the data gathered.”

At the same time, cybersecurity continues to strain IT budgets. According to new research by Node4, while 81% of IT leaders foresee higher budgets this year, 23% indicate this won’t be enough to meet their strategic goals. And 32% express worry that they won’t be able to keep up their security defenses without budget increases.