America's intelligence agencies find creative ways to compete for talent

AMERICA’S intelligence agencies are struggling to attract and retain talent. Leon Panetta, a former Pentagon and CIA boss, says this is “a developing crisis”. Barbs from President Donald Trump have chipped away at the prestige of work that some consider already tarnished by leaks and the belief that “enhanced interrogations” is another way of saying torture. The backlog of people waiting for a security clearance approval or renewal has swollen to 700,000 or so, with an average waiting time of well over a year. Many applicants simply give up.