Along with making Kiwis physically sick and noticeably grumpier, the pandemic is proving a bonanza for our $3 billion-a-year security industry as businesses grapple with Covid-19 fallout.
King’s Security owner Zack Simpson says his guards recently intervened when a middle-aged woman in a Christchurch supermarket flew off the handle and whacked another female customer who innocently got in her way.
“It is literally the most unexpected people who are flipping out over the smallest things … and everyone is asking for security, not just supermarkets and construction [sites].”
New Zealand has more than 34,441 companies and individuals permitted to do security work, and last year the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority received almost 12,000 applications for business licences and employee certificates of approval (COA), the highest number since it was established a decade ago, and well up on the 7773 lodged in 2019
Security skyrockets
Training provider C4 Group trained 6000 new security guards last year, and First Security has hired an additional 1600 permanent staff since the pandemic started, half of them working in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities where it holds the lion’s share of private contracts.
When MIQ hotels drop from 32 to just four First Security chief executive Tim Covic says growing demand for security services means they will have no trouble redeploying staff.
The need to enforce mask-wearing, check vaccine passes, and deal with short-tempered customers behaving badly has sparked heightened security at shops, health centres, public libraries, and hospitality outlets.
Most of New Zealand’s 1778 licensed security companies are small businesses that cannot match the higher wages paid by national companies, with one likening it to a corner dairy going up against Pak ’n Save.
The tight labour market and unsociable part-time hours also make recruitment tough, raising concerns about new guards starting work with little or no training, and that undesirables such as gang members may slip through vetting procedures.
Larger operators dominate the New Zealand Security Association whose 250 members employ about 85 per cent of the security workforce.
Chief executive Gary Morrison says they were already up to 2000 workers short pre-Covid as a result of greater emphasis on health and safety, and increased focus on risks associated with events and crowded places following the mosque shootings.
Many local authorities also rely on security contractors to handle noise, freedom camping and animal control complaints after hours, but he says by far the biggest increase in security had been in the retail sector.
More aggro
Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford says an undercurrent of aggression and violence has quadrupled over the pandemic, forcing businesses to increase protection for shoppers and staff.“
“We’re hearing about it from shops where you wouldn’t think customers would be getting aggro … sewing shops, grocery and hardware stores, pretty much anywhere is experiencing this issue, and I think some kind of deep-seated stress in the community is leading to it.”
Added to that, Harford says growth in retail crime, already worth an estimated $1b a year, is leading to more organised and brazen thefts by people loading trolleys with high value goods and simply walking off without paying, threatening anyone who tries to intervene.
Countdown now has security guards in 95 supermarkets and since the pandemic kicked off, it has logged thousands of incidents.
Local authorities have also significantly upped security, and public libraries, normally havens of peace and tranquillity, frequently bear the brunt of outrage over Covid-19 rules.
Auckland Council says security requirements have increased between 30 and 50 per cent across its public facilities, and spending at corporate buildings went from just over $80,000 pre-Covid to $126,000 in 2021, largely due to fewer staff being in buildings.
Security incidents increased dramatically after introduction of vaccine passes, with more than 400 reported in the three months from December.
The Christchurch City Council is spending an extra $47,000 a week to pay for up to 22 additional personnel a day, and in Wellington ratepayers are coughing up for an extra 990 hours of security weekly.
