This article originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
After scouring LinkedIn and weeding through all 276 ZipRecruiter applicants – 198 of whom were unbearably unqualified, 73 of whom had similar, but not quite the right experience, and four who were pretty close but had no job stability – you finally find “the one.”
He is a skilled technician with more than seven years of experience. He is certified in major product lines and the initial interview went very well. He is friendly, customer-centric, can troubleshoot, program…you name it.
Then you ask the dreaded question: “What are your compensation expectations?” – to which he replies “$38 an hour” and you nearly fall out of your chair and curl into the fetal position.
If this has happened to you recently, keep reading – you are not alone.
The Harsh Reality
The job market is continuously changing around us, and right now, we are in a period of transition. Just 6 to 12 months ago, candidates were receiving insane salary bumps, and companies were shelling out cash by the boatload to entice candidates to fill their toughest positions.
While this seems to have cooled off a bit, it has led to a huge disparity in the skilled labor market. My firm has been seeing salaries for comparable skill sets fluctuate extremely – not only varying among competitive companies, but even among employees at the same company.
For the position described in the opening of this article, many hiring managers will say: “$38 an hour is ridiculous; in fact, it is unfathomable for a technician. This candidate simply is not worth that, and I don’t believe he is (or was) making anywhere near that.”
With the cost of benefits at an all-time high – along with nearly every other expense rising steadily as well – it can be hard to grasp how $38 an hour is possible, but I’m here to tell you the harsh reality: Companies are paying it, and candidates are making it.
Inflation is happening all around us, in just about every conceivable job market. Fast food restaurant workers start at anywhere from $16 to 20 dollars an hour depending on the geographical location. Plain and simple, the days of securing a highly skilled technician on the cheap are over – at least if you plan on retaining them over the long term.
The Cost of Not Paying Up
Interestingly, our research at Recruit Group has shown that companies are losing out to technicians over an inability to come to terms on a mere $1-2 dollars an hour on average.
That pales in comparison to the cost of not having the right skilled technician on the job. Take a closer look: Even on the high end, an extra $2 an hour is $16 a day. If you are a CEO or leader having to spend more than 30 minutes a day worrying about your field crew's abilities, smoothing an issue over at a site, dealing with an upset customer, or worse, on-site yourself fixing a technical issue, it is worth that $16.
In the security industry – as with many others – a company is only as good as its results. If a few dollars an hour can dramatically impact results for your company, the decision to pay a little bit more should be a no-brainer.
Ryan Joseph is the Director of Security and Public Safety Technology Recruiting at Recruit Group (https://recruitgrp.com) specializing in operations, sales, and sales leadership from Entry Level to the C-Level. Mention this article and receive a free 30-minute hiring consultation. Contact her at [email protected] or call (954) 278-8286.
