8/29/2008: Security News Brief: US Intelligence Agencies Hire Outside
Contractors:

More than a quarter of the U.S. intelligence agencies' employees are
outside contractors, hired to fill in gaps in the military and
civilian work force, according to a survey of the 16 intelligence
agencies.

That is roughly on par with last year's total, the first year the
national intelligence director's office tried to count the outside
help, Ronald Sanders, the intelligence director's human resource
chief, told reporters Wednesday.

The number of government employees at U.S. intelligence agencies is
classified, but Sanders confirmed it is more than 100,000. Contractors
are not included in that total. Sanders said 27 percent of the total
number of intelligence employees are contractors. With around 100,000
as a baseline, that translates to an estimated 35,000 to 40,000
private contractors working for agencies like the CIA and the National
Security Agency.