LONDON — Bond. Jane Bond.
Britain’s secret spy agency, home to the very white and very male 007, is hunting for women and minorities to tackle global terrorism. More than 20,000 people have applied since MI6 began its open recruiting campaign about a year ago, in a drive that has all but replaced the famous shoulder tap used to recruit author Graham Greene and others in World War II.
MI6’s website encourages mothers to apply and assures women they won’t be used as “honey pots,” or seductresses. Applicants with disabilities are welcome. And a special search is directed at minorities who speak Mandarin, Arabic, Persian and the Afghan languages of Dari and Pashto.
“The key challenge is the terrorist threat,” MI6’s head of human resources told The Associated Press in an interview, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Government agencies have to show they’re making positive efforts (to diversify), but for us it means much more.”
Suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters in Britain in 2005. A year later, intelligence agents uncovered a plot to allegedly blow up several transatlantic airliners. Last year, two men failed to detonate bombs outside a London nightclub and a Scottish airport.
British law enforcement says it is watching more than 21,000 people and 200 plots.
The drive comes as Britain prepares for the Equalities Bill, which will allow organizations to give female and ethnic-minority candidates preference.
Salaries start at about $52,000, but senior officers can earn triple-digit sums.
The work’s importance — not the pay — is the main selling point, says MI6’s chief recruiter, a former field officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. But it’s still a tough sell for women.
“The perception is still that it is for single men,” said the recruiter. “But not all jobs are on the front line. This said, many of the women who join want to be on the front line.”
The security service has around 3,600 employees and hopes to reach 4,000. About 43 percent are women, down from 51 percent in the 1990s, and 6.5 percent are minorities. MI5, Britain’s domestic spy agency, has had two female chiefs since 1992.
