Walk into the office of almost any security company in Memphis right now and ask how hiring is going. You’ll get one of two answers: a sigh, or a long pause followed by a sigh.
The private security industry in the Memphis metro area has a staffing problem, and it’s getting worse. Armed guard positions are sitting open for three, four, sometimes six weeks before a qualified candidate clears the licensing pipeline. Unarmed positions fill faster, but turnover chews through those hires at a rate that would make a fast-food franchise manager wince. The result is a market where demand for guards is outrunning supply, contracts are getting harder to fill on time, and the companies that figure out retention will be the ones that survive.
The Numbers Behind the Shortage
Tennessee doesn’t publish precise employment data broken down by security guard specialization, so the exact size of the gap is hard to pin down. What we do know comes from the companies themselves and from TDCI’s registration records.
The state’s Private Protective Services division processed somewhere around 4,000 individual guard registrations in 2019, covering both new applicants and renewals. That number has been relatively flat for the past few years, even as demand in the Memphis market keeps climbing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median hourly wage for security guards in the Memphis metro area at roughly $12 to $13 an hour. For armed guards, that number creeps toward $15 or $16, depending on the contract.
The problem is simple math. At $13 an hour, a security guard in Memphis is competing with Amazon’s starting wage at their distribution centers in the Oakhaven and Raleigh areas. Target, FedEx, and a dozen other large employers in Shelby County pay comparable or better starting wages, don’t require a background check through TBI and FBI databases, and don’t ask you to stand outside a construction site at 2 a.m. in January.
Why Retention Is Worse Than Recruitment
Getting someone to apply for a security job in Memphis isn’t the hardest part. Getting them to stay past 90 days is.
Industry sources I’ve spoken with estimate that annual turnover rates for unarmed guards in Memphis run between 100% and 200%. That’s not a typo. A company that employs 50 unarmed guards might cycle through 75 to 100 different people in a single year. Some quit after a week. Some stop showing up after their second paycheck. Some leave for a dollar-an-hour raise at a competing firm across town.
The armed side is more stable because the licensing investment creates a natural barrier. Once someone has gone through the 16 hours of basic training, the firearms qualification, the fingerprinting through IdentoGO, and the background check wait, they’re less likely to walk away from a $15-an-hour armed post for a $13-an-hour warehouse job. Less likely, but not immune. Armed guards still leave. They just leave more slowly.
For companies bidding on contracts, this creates a difficult calculation. You need to price your bid to cover the cost of constant recruitment, training, and replacement. That training cost isn’t trivial. Every new hire needs orientation, site-specific training, and in many cases a uniform and equipment issue. When that hire walks off the job after three weeks, you eat that cost and start over.
How This Affects Businesses
If you manage a commercial property in Memphis and you’ve noticed your security provider rotating through unfamiliar faces every few months, this is why. High turnover doesn’t just affect the security company’s bottom line. It directly affects the quality of service at your site.
A guard who’s been on your property for six months knows the tenants by name. They know that the back entrance near the loading dock sticks when it rains and needs to be checked twice on the overnight shift. They know which cameras cover the parking garage and which have blind spots. They’ve built relationships with the Memphis Police Department patrol officers who cover the area and can get a faster response when something goes sideways.
A guard on day three knows none of that. They’re reading from a post order binder and trying to figure out where the bathroom is. The difference in effectiveness is enormous, and it’s a difference that property managers and business owners are paying for whether they realize it or not.
What the Bigger Companies Are Doing
The national firms have resources to throw at the problem. Allied Universal, the largest security company in the country, has been running hiring events across Memphis. They can offer benefits packages, 401(k) plans, and career progression paths that smaller firms can’t match. Securitas has pushed training and development as a retention tool.
GardaWorld, the Canadian-owned multinational with a growing Memphis presence, has invested in technology to reduce the number of guard hours needed at certain sites. Remote monitoring, access control systems, and video analytics can supplement human guards at some locations, though they can’t replace them entirely. A camera can record a break-in. It can’t chase someone down the hallway.
The mid-size and smaller companies have to get creative. Some have started offering shift differentials for overnight and weekend work, which is where the hardest-to-fill positions tend to be. Others have focused on niche markets where they can charge premium rates and pay guards accordingly. Healthcare facilities, data centers, and high-end residential communities tend to pay better rates than a standard retail or office contract.
Walden Security, based in Chattanooga with operations across the state, has built a reputation for investing in guard training and paying slightly above market rate. Their approach costs more on the front end, but the theory is that better-trained, better-paid guards stick around longer and deliver more consistent service.
The Licensing Pipeline Bottleneck
Even when companies find willing candidates, the licensing process introduces delays. For unarmed guards, the turnaround is relatively quick. Complete the 16 hours of basic training, submit the application and fingerprints to TDCI, and wait for the registration card. Most unarmed applicants can be on post within two to three weeks of their first day of training.
Armed guards take longer. The firearms qualification adds time and cost. The background check goes through both TBI and FBI databases, and processing times vary. Some candidates clear in a week. Others wait a month. If the background check flags something that requires additional review, the timeline extends further.
Companies that maintain a pipeline of candidates already in the licensing process have an advantage. They can slot a new armed guard onto a post faster than a company starting from scratch. The downside is the cost of sponsoring candidates through licensing before you have a confirmed contract to put them on.
The Unlicensed Operator Problem
Whenever a market gets tight, the temptation to cut corners grows. In Memphis, that means unlicensed security operators. Drive down certain stretches of Lamar Avenue, Summer Avenue, or Winchester Road and you’ll see people standing in front of businesses wearing security-style uniforms who may or may not hold valid TDCI registrations.
TDCI does conduct compliance checks, but the agency’s enforcement resources are limited relative to the size of the market. A handful of investigators covering the entire state can’t be everywhere. Legitimate companies lose contracts to operators who undercut by skipping the training requirements and background checks. The businesses hiring those operators often don’t know the difference, or don’t care as long as someone is standing at the door.
This isn’t a new problem. It’s a chronic one. And in a tight labor market where legitimate companies are already struggling to fill positions, the unlicensed operators make the economics even harder for firms trying to do things the right way.
What Needs to Change
There’s no single fix for the staffing shortage. Wages need to come up, but raising wages means raising contract prices, and some clients won’t pay. Training needs to be accessible, yet the licensing requirements exist for good reason and shouldn’t be gutted just to speed up the pipeline. Retention programs need investment, but that investment has to come from somewhere.
What I keep hearing from company owners across Memphis is that the clients who understand the value of good security are willing to pay for it. The ones who treat security as a commodity, shopping for the lowest hourly rate, end up with the revolving door of guards who can’t remember their own site’s address.
If you’re a business owner in Memphis trying to figure out what to pay for security in 2020, start by asking what it’s worth to you. Then pay accordingly. The market is tight, the pipeline is slow, and the good guards have options. The companies that can keep them employed are the ones that treat them like professionals, not interchangeable bodies filling a post.