as the icrc has grown and become more directly involved in conflicts, it has seen an increase in professional staff rather than volunteers over the years. the icrc had only twelve employees in 1914 and 1,900 in the second world war complemented its 1,800 volunteers. the number of paid staff dropped off after both wars, but has increased once again in the last few decades, averaging 500 field staff in the 1980s and over a thousand in the 1990s. beginning in the 1970s, the icrc became more systematic in training to develop a more professional staff. the icrc offers attractive careers for university graduates, especially in switzerland, but the workload as an icrc employee is demanding. 15% of the staff leaves each year and 75% of employees stay less than three years. the icrc staff is multi-national and averaged about 50% non-swiss citizens in 2004. the icrc's international staff are assisted in their work by some 13,000 national employees hired in the countries where the delegations are based.