Changing the Guard

Outsourcing security makes economic sense but also raises concerns

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.

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.