The pandemic has resulted in layoffs and lost sales for many business sectors but not B.C.’s security industry, according to data collected for Business in Vancouver’s Biggest Security Companies in B.C. list (biv.com/lists).
Average B.C. employment at the province’s top security firms grew 13.2% over the past year to 911.6 employees in 2021 from 805.2 in 2020.
Median employment grew 16.4% to 450 employees in 2021 from 386.5 in 2020. This suggests that smaller companies lower on the list grew more quickly than larger companies ranked higher on the list. Over the past five years, the median employment at B.C.’s top security firms grew 48.8% compared with just 30% for the average over the same period.
However, growth in the industry is a trend that follows declines just a few years ago. In 2018, the average number of people employed by the top security firms dropped to its lowest level in the past five years. Average employment slipped 6.2% to a low of 657.7 employees from 701.4 in 2017. The median number of employees suffered a similar reduction.
Within the top five, No. 1 Paladin Group of Companies had, by far, the fastest employment growth over the five-year period: up 84.1% to 4,878 employees in 2021 from 2,650 employees in 2017.
No. 6 Houle Electric boasted the highest one-year growth. Its employment increased 19.9% to 1,194 employees in 2021 from 996 in 2020. No. 17 Provident Security Corp. posted the steepest one-year decline in employment, with a 21% drop to 150 employees in 2021 from 190 in 2020. •
