MI5 Fires Older Spies for Inadequate IT Skills
The domestic British intelligence agency MI5 is firing older employees for not having up-to-date IT skills and replacing the jokingly called James Bond Generation of elderly spies with new intelligence officers who have better command of new technologies, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Most of MI5′s counterterrorism work focuses on Islamic extremists, many of whom use of the Internet and other computer technologies to prepare and coordinate their plots.
Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, recently told the Intelligence and Security Committee his concerns with the agency’s lack of updated IT skills had resulted in his getting rid of some of the staff.
Despite the layoffs, MI5 is growing in size. The agency today has 3,500 employees, a number that is estimated to climb up to 4,100, which is nearly double compared to 2001 numbers.
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