Security guard turnover: how guard companies keep officers longer

Security guard turnover is one of the largest hidden costs in a guard company: every officer who leaves has to be replaced, screened, licensed and trained, and the client sees a new face at the post. Annual turnover in security services reached 89% in 2024, against 66% for the private sector as a whole, the UC Berkeley Labor Center found. The companies that keep officers longer tend to get five things right: pay, schedules, the first weeks, recognition and supervision.

Key points#

Turnover in security services reached 89% in 2024 and peaked near 99% in 2022, the UC Berkeley Labor Center reported.
Officers leave jobs that cannot cover their bills or give them enough hours, so pay and hours come first.
A schedule that is published early and stays stable keeps people longer than a surprise text the night before.
A planned first week, with site training and a named contact, stops many early quits.
Supervisors who visit, listen and recognize good work keep officers who would otherwise drift away.

Why security guard turnover costs more than it looks#

When an officer quits, the cost is not only the next job ad. Employers carry repeated recruiting, screening and training costs, and clients lose the experience and site knowledge that good security depends on, the Labor Center's report notes.

The hiring numbers show how much of the market is replacement. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, O*NET OnLine lists 156,000 projected job openings for security guards for 2025 to 2035, while total employment is expected to grow only 1% to 2%. Those openings count both growth and replacement, so most of them are seats that someone left.

Start by measuring your own rate. Divide the number of officers who left during the year by your average headcount for that year, the same method the Labor Center used with Census data. Then split it by site, by supervisor and by length of service. Quits in the first 90 days often point to hiring and onboarding; quits after a year often point to pay, hours or a manager.

Pay that holds up against the next offer#

Officers compare your rate with the warehouse, the store and the other guard company down the road. The median security guard earned $18.28 an hour in 2025, O*NET OnLine reports from federal wage data. In the Labor Center's national study, 71% of security officers earned less than the MIT living wage for a single adult, and 43% had no health insurance through an employer or union, the report found.

Pay changes behavior. When San Francisco International Airport raised wages under its living-wage policy, turnover among security screeners fell sharply and absenteeism declined, the same report says, citing earlier research.

Practical steps:

Know your local market. Check what nearby employers pay for similar shifts at least once a year.
Build raises into your bill rates. A raise you cannot bill is a raise you cannot keep. Start from a bill rate built on real costs.
Pay correctly and on time. One short paycheck can undo months of goodwill, so check hours before every payroll run.
Show the path. Tell officers what a lead or supervisor role pays and what it takes to get there.

Schedules officers can plan a life around#

Hours matter as much as the rate. Nearly one in five guards works part time, and the share rises among the lowest paid, the Labor Center found. An officer who cannot count on enough hours keeps looking for a second job, and often finds a first one.

Publish the schedule well ahead, and change it only when you must.
Keep officers on the same sites and shifts where you can, so they learn the post and the client learns them.
Ask each officer how many hours they want, and offer open shifts to the people who asked first.
Share overtime and holiday shifts fairly, and say how they are shared.
Make it easy to request time off or swap a shift, with clear rules for approval.

Good security guard scheduling is a retention tool, not only a way to fill posts. In Guardix, officers can claim open shifts, ask to swap shifts and request time off in the app, and a manager approves or declines.

A first week that gets officers past the first month#

The first few shifts shape how a new officer sees the company. A planned start gives them a reason to come back.

Before day one: confirm the license, the uniform, the paperwork and the first week's shifts.
On day one: walk the site with a lead officer, introduce the client contact and go through the post orders together.
In week one: pair the new officer with an experienced one, and call after the first and third shift.
At day 30: sit down for ten minutes and ask what is working and what is not.

Training is part of the welcome. Only about half of states set a minimum number of training hours for unarmed guards, ranging from 4 to 48, the Labor Center reports. Your own site and company training is what prepares an officer for the job they will actually do.

Recognition that officers notice#

Many officers work alone or in small teams, often at night, and rarely hear when they did well. Fix that on purpose.

Pass on every compliment from a client, by name, to the officer and their supervisor.
Mark length of service, such as six months, one year and five years, with something real.
Tie pay steps to added certifications, so learning pays off.
Promote from inside when you can, and say so when you do.

Supervisors who stay in touch#

People often leave a manager, not a company. Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units, Gallup estimates.

Visit every shift type, including nights and weekends, not only the day shift near the office.
Return calls and messages within a day, especially about pay or schedules.
Give each supervisor a number of officers they can actually know.
Ask "what would make you leave?" in a stay interview, before the officer has already decided.
Hold a short exit interview, write down the reason, and look for patterns each quarter.

Frequently asked questions#

What is a normal turnover rate for security guards?#

Security turnover is high. Annual turnover in the Investigation and Security Services industry was 88.6% in 2024, against 66.0% for the private sector, and it peaked at 99.3% in 2022, the UC Berkeley Labor Center calculated from Census data.

Why do security guards quit?#

The usual reasons are pay that does not cover living costs, too few or unpredictable hours, a poor start and little contact with a supervisor. The Labor Center links the industry's high turnover to low wages, thin benefits and reduced hours, its report says.

How do you calculate security guard turnover?#

Divide the number of officers who left during a year by the average number of officers employed that year, then multiply by 100. Track it by site, supervisor and length of service, so you can see where officers are leaving and when.

Does higher pay reduce security guard turnover?#

The evidence says it helps. After San Francisco International Airport raised wages under its living-wage policy, turnover among security screeners fell sharply and screening performance improved, the Labor Center's report notes.

Sources#

UC Berkeley Labor Center: Underpaid, Undervalued, and Essential: The Security Guard Workforce in the United States, July 22, 2026
O*NET OnLine: Security Guards (33-9032.00), October 6, 2026
Gallup: Why Great Managers Are So Rare, March 25, 2014