Covid-19 has had a major impact on the security tech industry and as specialist recruiters we’ve seen it first-hand, writes George Zitko, pictured, of Zitko Consulting.
Over the past few months essential maintenance and installation work has bred a whole new generation of heroes on the front-line, but there’ve been delays to many capital projects that have impacted on operations. At Zitko we’ve continued to fill those essential roles, along with some positions for design engineers, project managers and similar, ready for the restart. There’ll undoubtedly be a bounce back, but beyond this we see new opportunities for the industry to support the fightback against Covid-19.
There are encouraging murmurs that vaccines may be efficacious, but if these prove optimistic, then we’ll be implementing social distancing for the longer-term.n Management consultancy EY’s advice on Covid 19 resilience suggests that companies factor this possibility in right now and leverage their existing resources to this end.
Security systems, such as access management and IP CCTV, are likely to be front and centre in users’ thinking when it comes to maintaining public health in their buildings; not to mention gaining the confidence of customers, employees and regulators. It’s a considerable opportunity for manufacturers, systems integrators and end users to get creative and ‘Covid manage’ their buildings.
Technology trends
Richard Lambert is founder and MD of the systems integrator Evolution Europe (one of our managed service clients). He wrote a biting critique of the new ‘Covid detection’ systems flooding the market. Probably the less said about these solutions the better. But moving on to integrated access control systems, the potential to make a positive impact is clear to see.
For many medium to larger scale organisations, access control systems already provide a reliable, automated log of employees’ and visitors’ movements through their facilities. This lends itself perfectly to contact tracing and with the right planning (and internal access points) a reliable means to socially distance different groups within a building, factory or campus.
With the detailed analytics generated by modern back-end systems you have an efficient contact tracing tool, as well as flexible control of exactly who accesses what.
We think this is not only an opportunity for the industry to deliver new and upgraded solutions, but also to enhance its reputation for doing good, beyond the traditional ‘command and control’ perceptions that still exist. Indeed Zitko’s prepping (if I can borrow that word) for an uptake in demand for systems designers, installers and commissioning engineers in the Access Management space.
IP CCTV
IP CCTV also provides scope for greater Covid-19 safety and better crowd control, especially in wider public spaces. For hard-pressed security and emergency service teams, automated back end systems can inform access control and direct enforcement teams more efficiently.
A more controversial, probably longer-term application would be the use of facial recognition, for example in pubs or on public transport, for contact tracing. These are places where random strangers rub shoulders in higher risk spaces, but for the UK and many free nations facial recognition may well be a privacy step too far.
Attracting a new generation
From a recruitment perspective, ‘Covid management’ provides a new reason for talented people to consider the security tech industry. Employee surveys often show that ‘social good’ factors strongly in people’s career decisions, so this is a potentially compelling new narrative for us to use moving forward. At Zitko we’re redoubling efforts to promote the industry, through expanded candidate communications and a unique outreach programme we’ll be launching this autumn.
As they say in the security business, watch this space.
