Being a secret agent is a highly skilled and well-paid career. The mystery of the job has gripped the public's fascination for decades. But recruiting the next generation of M-I-5 and Australia’s intelligence is proving difficult. As gen-zed are increasingly reluctant to become the next experts of espionage. With former intelligence officers pointing to climate change and the middle east conflict as some of the reasons for the drop in interest.
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00:00Have you ever wanted to become a spy?
00:04If you're under the age of 30, chances are, probably not.
00:08Security agencies across the world, like the MI5 here in London, are struggling to recruit
00:13young secret agents.
00:15So why doesn't Generation Z want to be the next James Bond?
00:18Well, according to former agents like Harry Ferguson, better known as the English spy
00:24on TikTok, national security just isn't a priority for young people.
00:28They believe there are bigger threats we should be fighting, like climate change.
00:32I think young people today still want to serve, but they see it in other ways.
00:37There's climate change, there's human rights, there are political issues that they want
00:41to give their time to.
00:43At this very moment, if you look at what's happening in Gaza and in Lebanon, a lot of
00:47young people are saying, why would I want to contribute to that?
00:50In the UK, the MI5 has recently released a rare social media recruitment campaign, trying
00:56to be more relatable to young people to convince them to join.
01:00And in Australia, the National Security Conference heard in April that the country isn't producing
01:05enough people with the skills needed in geopolitics.
01:09If this trend keeps up, it could have a big impact.
01:12Experts say our security agencies should reflect the population, especially because the next
01:17generation are going to be the ones impacted by the decisions made.
01:20And they say often people who think they could never be a spy, make the best secret agents.