I refer to the article “Security officers get more career paths” (Straits Times, Dec 4).
Shortage of security guards
It states that ”"We have to be more creative, we have to reclaim jobs,” said Mr Tan, adding that the industry, which comprises about 75,000 licensed guards, is still short of around 10,000 to 15,000 people.”
Not addressing the root problems?
These new initiatives as well as those in the past few years do not seem to be very effective, because we may not be addressing the root causes vigorously.
Low pay?
The basic salary is still very low – $857 according to the Ministry of Man power’s wages benchmarking tool.
According to Payscale — the median hourly pay is only $7.50.
Long working hours?
As to ”Senior operations manager Jason Chua, 57, of CBM Security said most security officers work 12-hour shifts with only one day off. “Our working hours are very long. We always lack sleep or proper rest, which can really affect our health,” he said, adding that the programme will help him monitor his high blood pressure” – we need to change the typical very long working hours.
LeongSze Hian
A.S.S. Contributor
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