Many in the industry insist they are busier than ever, while others say they can feel a slowdown approaching, perhaps in the spring or summer as the impact of job losses in other sectors take hold.

Anecdotal evidence suggests most seem determined to keep their employees and make other cuts to avoid losing good people.

When I canvassed a handful of the other large vendors we write about on a regular basis, the response was generally a “staying the course” message — no layoffs, no salary cutbacks.

Indigo Vision’s Canadian vice-president of sales told me they are not experiencing project cancellations, but they are seeing some project delays.

Bosch Security Systems said, “We are being prudent in our expenditures, but not laying off or freezing wages.”
Two other large companies told me they didn’t want to comment or weren’t taking any measures to cut staff, but still did not want their name mentioned in any article that had anything to do with job cuts. No news is good news, I suppose.

But cuts may be a measure some companies have to consider — especially as customers that traditionally purchased systems and services from the security industry, such as the automotive sector, begin to look at making adjustments to their own spending.

Our cover story this issue looks at the salary and job cuts Ottawa-based March Networks, makers of surveillance equipment, has taken to weather the economic storm.

With its customer ties to the retail and banking industry — sectors that were hit before and during the holidays  — March Networks may be somewhat of a canary in the coal mine.

After the holidays March Networks announced it had to make deeper cuts to its workforce and pay remaining employees a little less this year than originally anticipated.

At this point in time only a few other large companies in the industry have announced cutbacks. Pelco has announced it is eliminating its access control division and about 19 people lost jobs before Christmas.

SP&T News’ own reader poll, which we ran online in early January, indicated that 67.5 per cent of respondents said layoffs would likely happen in their organizations. Another 22.5 per cent said they would be looking for some fresh new faces. That’s an interesting and smart outlook given it could be a good time to pick up people with skill sets that weren’t available before.

In fact G4S Security Services senior regional vice-president Robert Burns told me he has had lots of resumes from people in associated businesses, mostly the telco industry. “It could be a hiring opportunity,” he said.
Burns also suggested that if you can afford it, train/retrain staff — when all of this is over, those who can get the engine going again will be the best positioned.

That’s the kind of open-minded thinking that could help some companies come out of this recession ahead of everyone else. 

According to an online survey issued in late January that surveyed Canadian employers, it seems Canadian companies are trying to manage the current economic crisis primarily through cutbacks on hiring, rather than layoffs or early retirements.

Of those surveyed by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting company, 56 per cent do not expect layoffs in the next 12 months while 31 per cent do expect some layoffs, mostly in the manufacturing sector and at financial, pharmaceutical and retail companies. Another 13 per cent said they are not sure yet what they will do.

The survey showed recruitment cutbacks and hiring freezes are the preferred way to deal with financial fears: 53 per cent of respondents are cutting back on recruitment, and 47 per cent have adopted, or expect to adopt, a freeze on new hires. Only 15 per cent of respondents expect to adopt early retirement programs.

The problem with laying off people, especially those with skills that were hard to find before the downturn, is that it might be more difficult to make a comeback when the economy finally turns around.