NSA Director Highlights Flexibility in Workday and Careers to Attract Talent

SIMI VALLEY, California—New hiring practices and workday flexibility are helping the National Security Agency compete with industry for talented employees, the agency’s director said. The spy agency plans to hire 2,500 workers this year, which is among the biggest hiring sprees in the agency’s history, according to agency officials. The efforts to recruit and retain workers are the result of a recent hiring push prompted by the retiring of workers hired during the Reagan administration. Millenials and Generation X combined make up a majority of the current workforce. The NSA has also invested in recruiting college students and reconnecting with alumni in the private sector. The agency has also implemented more programs to retain its workforce. These changes have led to 85 percent of the current workforce joined NSA after Sept. 11, 2001. And, the agency has become more transparent by regularly sharing information with defense companies.