Fourth of U.S. spying jobs outsourced to contractors

WASHINGTON – Private contractors account for more than one-quarter of the core work force at U.S. intelligence agencies, according to newly released government figures that underscore how much of the nation’s spying work has been outsourced since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The CIA and other spy agencies employ about 36,000 contractors in espionage-related jobs, in addition to approximately 100,000 full-time government workers, according to Ronald Sanders, the head of personnel for the U.S. intelligence community.

Contractors carry out missions ranging from collecting intelligence in Iraq and Afghanistan to operating classified computer networks for the 16 spy agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community.

Sanders said the number of contractors remained steady over the past year, after surging heavily in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks.

“As you may know, we’ve been hiring a great deal since Sept. 11, 2001,” Sanders told reporters Wednesday.

The growing reliance on contractors has been a source of controversy for U.S. spy agencies, in part because of concerns that temporary employees might not be as trustworthy as career workers in handling some of the nation’s most sensitive national security work.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has criticized the CIA for using contractors in interrogations of terrorism suspects, and many lawmakers favor barring the agency from doing so.

The total budget for the nation’s spy agencies is roughly $43 billion. The use of contractors has drawn criticism for driving up costs, with senior U.S. intelligence officials acknowledging that talented employees have been lured away to take higher paying positions with private companies.

Sanders said the spy agencies spend about $125,000 per year for a government employee, compared to about $207,000 per year for contract workers. The numbers reflect salaries, retirement benefits and other costs.

But intelligence officials have said that contractors also help agencies control costs by enabling spy services to hire workers for short-term assignments.

Sanders declined to provide specific numbers but said that 27 percent of contractors are involved in intelligence collection and operations, 19 percent work in analysis jobs, and 22 percent manage computer networks or perform other information technology functions.