[zybler]

You are obviously saying that because you are pissed. And deep down inside you are hoping that they won't be able to recruit bright young people. But the truth is, economy is a bitch, unemployment rate is high, if they actually pays well, I'm pretty sure bright people will still join them, whether they are young or old.

[hawkharris]

Young people who earn jobs or internships with the NSA are generally in the tops of their classes. While they aren't immune to the recession, they have more prospects than the average grad, and employers sometimes compete for them.

I couldn't find any publicly available data about NSA recruitment, but there are some interesting anecdotes to show that the NSA is having a harder time recruiting top-notch students:

http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/09/nsa-recruiters-peppered-wi...

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130704/12162223721/nsa-re...

[sseveran]

Lets not forget that many NSA "employees" are actually contractors from companies like Booz Allen Hamilton. Also Palantir doesn't seem to be hurting finding people to build surveillance technology.

[derefr]

I feel horribly cynical for saying this, but: if you like playing the long game, this is actually a great time to join the NSA. Their ability to source talent is probably at an all-time low. One way or another, their reputation will probably rebound within a decade, and you'll have it all.

[kintamanimatt]

> their reputation will probably rebound within a decade

Really?

[to3m]

It's perfectly plausible. Such cycles are the way of things.

[kintamanimatt]

I'm not going to make predictions for the future because you know as little as me, but I'd be shocked and horrified if they did unless there were sweeping changes that made the NSA and its foreign equivalents more acceptable.

[pionar]

I think your view of history is just as myopic. The NSA has been around since the 50s and the original FISA of 1978 was written specifically because it was revealed that the NSA was spying on domestic targets at the request of Nixon.

Everything old is new again.

[kintamanimatt]

Fair point!

[brador]

That's not how it works at the highest levels. Employment of capable hackers is sky high right now and everyones paying top dollar.

[selfexperiments]

Only people with no ethics or morals would take an NSA job now, no matter how bad the economy is.

[lostlogin]

What about the arms industry? There are more jobs there and those are more directly hurting people.