Changing the Guard

Outsourcing security makes economic sense but also raises concerns

No one who had been watching the labor disputes between the security guard union and Harvard officials was surprised when most of the guards accepted a buy-out and retired. Harvard guards remain in the Yard, but in the Houses, outsourced guards stand in their stead, with the few exceptions of Harvard guards who switched to SSI, the private company providing outsourced security. The question now is whether the outsourced guards will prove an adequate replacement.

Ever since a 1992 multi-million dollar discrimination lawsuit that highlighted the force's poor management, Harvard stopped hiring in-house guards, effectively setting up a stranglehold on the force. The management problems showed Harvard the benefits of outsourcing. After all, Harvard specializes in education, not guarding. It seems natural that Harvard employ companies to provide services like security that are secondary to Harvard's primary goal. And the guards employed by SSI, a private security company, have proven their competence at the medical and business school campuses.

By outsourcing, Harvard will not only be saving itself the management of the guards, it will also be saving money. By any measure, Harvard pays its in-house guards more than the industry standard. Since they are Harvard employees, they are also recipients of generous health and retirement benefits. Because Harvard didn't hire any new guards after 1992, by 1999 all of the guards were earning the maximum hourly wage and working unlimited overtime because of the small, tightly stretched force. Harvard was thus paying an exorbitant amount per hour for security.

Examining costs alone, Harvard made a smart decision to outsource. But it also raises concerns among students who wonder if the SSI guards are making a living wage. While SSI, as a private company, does not have to release its hourly wage to the public, by most accounts it is below the Harvard guard wage, and it is unclear whether or not its guards receive benefits.

There is also the question of experience. Long-time guards have a familiarity with the campus, which can prove valuable in everyday situations. Guards who can quickly distinguish between students and intruders are an important commodity. It is understandable that SSI guards who are now patrolling the Houses do not know their way around--after all, they just started the job this fall. But the question is, will they stick around long enough to gain familiarity with students and their buildings? While most Harvard guards had been on the force for 10 years or more, only three of the SSI guards on the Longwood campus could claim that length of tenure. In fact, outsourcing encourages mobility. Because of the lower pay and smaller benefits, fewer guards see the job as a long-term occupation.

These questions of wage equity, experience and familiarity worry us. The efficient management and lower costs may balance out our lack of attachment to the new guards. We hope that SSI will make an effort to keep the same guards in the same houses year after year so that they can gain the same kind of mastery of their surroundings as the Harvard guards had. And even if the SSI guards don't stay for long, we hope that they become familiar with our faces, and maybe learn a couple of our names.