In the last 3 years, much effort has been made by government to uplift standards in the private security industry. Training and licensing requirements under national frameworks were in place since 2005, which has given the public some assurance of baseline skills and knowledge in every security officer. At the agency level, the police regulators have been working with security service providers and conducting audits to check service and operational standards. These audit results are published to motivate agencies to strive for higher standards.
These moves have not been universally popular. They have resulted in some service providers regrouping and even dropping out of the industry. However, they are moves in the right direction. As more reliance is being placed on private security to complement our law enforcement officers at major and public events, security officers must be able to handle members of the public, exercise judgment and understand their duties and liabilities. To attract responsible and committed people to the industry, security businesses must be well-run, with good management practices and fair employee benefits.
From my dealings with security service providers, many lament that there is still a serious manpower shortage. Although the number of licensed guards has increased significantly, they note that retention in the industry is a big challenge. Their experience is that the attrition rate in the first few months is high, because entry is fairly easy, but the job hours are long and unglamorous, the pay is low.
The manpower shortage has resulted in security agencies having difficulty carrying out security jobs which they have secured. At the lower end of the market where margins are low, this has facilitated some dubious practices such as the same guard working consecutive 12-hour shifts. There is anecdotal information of some Malaysians who are doing this and living out of suitcases. How serious is the shortage and what can be done to increase recruitment and retention? After all, this is one industry which will still thrive in the downturn.
Although the price of security services has gone up, how far have security officers’ salaries gone up? What can be done to promote good practices to encourage employers to give a fairer deal to employees?
Lastly, the annual audit of agencies has been kept optional so far. When the audit first commenced, only one third of agencies opted out but last year 50% opted out. This undermines efforts to upgrade standards and leaves guards exposed to bad management. What is the government’s hesitation to make the audit compulsory?
(Note: this speech was delivered in Parliament on 5 Feb 2009.)
