Security Spending Study Finds Wide Salary Gaps by State

GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study of security industry salaries, budgets, spending priorities and spending benchmarks shows personnel pay rate swings of up to 86% based on geography. The study, the 2011 Security Salaries & Budgets Benchmarking Report, was released by the Institute of Finance & Management (IOFM).

"With these report findings, decision makers can evaluate current salaries, prospective raises and budget allocations for their operations and make fact-based decisions on spending cuts or increases," stated Garett Seivold, report author and editor of IOFM's Security Director's Report.

"The survey found significant disparity in adjusted company pay rates for similar staff positions by state," said Seivold. "With personnel costs consuming 64% of security budgets in 2011, having current data at the state and metro level is vital."

5 Highest Starting Wage Rates for Entry Level, Unarmed Security Guards (Level 1)

1. Hawaii
2. District of Columbia
3. Alaska
4. California
5. Connecticut

"Key findings on what security directors spend their budgets on, how that varies by industry and in comparison to previous years are the essential reference points security professionals need to evaluate their spending strategies and assumptions," remarked Seivold.

Cost Data Saves Time and Money

The 2011 Security Salaries & Budgets Benchmarking Report contains detailed statistics, state by state, on average starting salaries for different security positions, adjusted for regional cost of living differences. The study also includes detailed sample job descriptions for each position.

Positions covered include:

1. Security Officer Level 1 (Unarmed)*
2. Security Office (Armed)*
3. Loss Prevention Officer
4. Console Operator*
5. Console Operations Supervisor
6. Security Trainer
7. Investigator Level 1
8. Senior Security Training Officer
9. Physical Security Supervisor
10. Protective Services Agent
11. Protective Services Manager
12. Investigations Supervisor
13. Senior Investigations Officer
14. Business Unit/Facility Security Manager
15. Division/Multi-Location Security Manager
16. Regional Security Director
17. Chief Security Officer

*Salaries and wage rates are indicated for both proprietary and contract employees on these titles. With these data, Security Directors have a baseline to evaluate their vendor contracts, and Security Vendors can compare their salary and pay rates to the industry averages on a state by state basis.

The study's in-depth benchmark data allows companies to compare their historical spending, and check their projections, to industry peers and non-peer organizations ranging in size from under $10 million in annual sales, to over $1 billion.

Security directors, security consultants, risk managers and financial controllers faced with planning and resource allocation decisions will find objective decision-support for their recommendations in the report's findings, which includes physical security spending by industry, benchmarking data on programs like Executive Protection and a range of expense categories, budget metrics, and compensation trends, in addition to the salaries and wage rates data.

The 2011 Security Salaries and Budgets Benchmarking Report is based on survey responses of over 190 security professionals with knowledge of their organization's spending on physical security, from a random national sampling of security professionals. Survey respondents represent a broad cross-section of industries, and include non-profit, privately held, publicly traded and government organizations.

About The Institute of Finance & Management

For more than a quarter of a century, IOMA's Institute of Finance & Management has provided authoritative guidance for management professionals. In addition to publishing the 2011 Security Salaries and Budgets Benchmarking Report, the Institute publishes Security Director's Report, Controller's Report and other time-tested tools. For more information, please visit http://www.IOFM.com.

For more information about this report contact:

Garett Seivold
Editor in Chief
Security Publications
Institute of Finance and Management
415-531-5101
[email protected]

Valerie Oben
Security Director's Report
Institute of Finance and Management
203.889.4972
[email protected]

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE The Institute of Finance & Management