The security industry has had a particularly tough year in 2020. The turnover of the entire industry fell by 12 percent (from 1,5 billion in 2019 to 1,3 billion euros in 2020) and the number of security guards fell by 9 percent (from 28.075 to 25.855). This is evident from the Sector Scan 2020 of the Dutch Security Industry.
The blow was hardest in event and catering security, but turnover also fell on average at other security companies, mainly due to the strong decline in aviation security. Sales were also lost in store security and mobile surveillance.
Industry scan
This is reflected in the annual industry scan, a survey of 38 security companies (including the largest), which was commissioned by the Dutch Security Industry by Ilisia Marketingservice. After the huge setbacks in 2020, expectations for 2021 are still changing. Companies working in event and hospitality security say they expect business to pick up again from the third quarter, but more than half of all companies still expect a further decline in turnover this year. A quarter expects to realize a higher turnover this year than last year. The recovery from the crisis therefore seems likely to take some time.
Serious consequences
Over the past year, the Dutch security industry has often pointed to the serious consequences of corona for the industry. The figures now also show that employment has not been this low in the past fifteen years and is even lower than in the economic crisis of 2012/2013. Due to the uncertain circumstances, many companies have had to resort to the use of temporary staff. The share of self-employed persons without employees grew from 12 percent in 2019 to 37 percent in 2020.
The increase in absenteeism due to illness is also striking: from 6,2 percent in 2019 to 7,8 percent in 2020. This is expected to be partly the result of corona (for example, security guards cannot always keep a distance of 1,5 meters), partly due to the corona measures. as a result of which employees who may not be infected still have to be quarantined. The Dutch security industry has repeatedly urged the cabinet to give priority to security guards when testing and vaccinating, because these people are in the front row when it comes to law enforcement. The trend of increasing absenteeism due to illness is also observed in other sectors of the economy.
Source: security news.nl