Both the number of employees and the turnover are record-high for companies in the private security sector, which includes, for example, security guards, security officers, and various technical services.
According to the industry organization Säkerhetsföretagen's annual report, the industry had over 22,800 employees last year, while net sales amounted to 31.5 billion kronor.
It's a record both in terms of the number of employees and turnover for the security sector, says Pontus Lindström, who is the business policy manager at Säkerhetsföretagen.
Several new laws will also make the industry expect to grow further in the coming years.
At the turn of the year, a law was introduced that gives security officers increased powers.
But the big change is that municipalities can use security officers in a much more flexible way than before, says Pontus Lindström.
This is a major improvement that we believe will make security officers more visible throughout the country in the future.
Lack of staff
However, there is already a concern about skills shortages in the industry.
Nine out of ten of Säkerhetsföretagen's members reported last year that there is a shortage of personnel.
There is a concern, not least when we look at issues related to total defense and the like, says Pontus Lindström.
In the event of heightened preparedness, we expect that at least twice as many security guards and protection officers will be needed, and those people are not currently in the industry.
Wants civil duty
Säkerhetsföretagen proposes a range of measures to address the skills shortage. Pontus Lindström particularly highlights that civil duty should be extended to the security sector.
Civil duty has been activated for rescue services and the energy sector, but we would like to see it also for the security sector. Then we would have completely different opportunities to ensure skills supply even in the event of heightened preparedness, he says.
