Fire and security alarm installation jobs

Protecting properties and lives from fire and theft requires express response from emergency services, however they are only able to respond in this way if they have been alerted as soon as possible. A manual call to an emergency centre may not be the best way to contact them in an emergency; an automated message could help to raise that crucial, instantaneous alert. In order to have a quick response, many domestic and commercial properties choose to install an alarm system that sends out a quick message to monitoring stations. Alarm and CCTV systems are also used to protect properties and lives from theft.

Simply seeing that a property has a security system installed immediately makes it unappealing to criminals. Installers of these systems play a crucial role in protecting society. This article highlights how the job market for fire and security installers has changed in the last few years, and the predictions for years to come in the UK.

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Mintel Research has predicted that the industry will be worth almost £6 billion in 2016, with a growth of 6% pa. This will make a huge impact on the job market. As it stands, a fire and security installer earns an average of £24,000 pa (source: National Salary Data), CCTV engineers earn around £23,000 pa and intruder alarm engineers earn around the same (source: payscale).

In recent years, the way in which we connect and manage fire, CCTV and electronic security platforms has changed from using standard conventional systems to fully integrated security solutions. Thanks to IT, it is now possible to connect all of these devices into one large security system, and in some bigger applications it’s even possible to incorporate all services into one single building management system (BMS).

This has both advantages and disadvantages to the fire and security job market. The adoption of IP surveillance technology means that more and more networking principles are used in fire and security alarm installation. This has created a huge demand for security professionals with the necessary IT background. In the past, IT and security job markets were kept separate – IT jobs were largely office based, and security installation was manual work. Since IT has revolutionised how we install fire and security equipment, there is a new job title created for multi-skilled fire and security engineers.

These engineers with the required IT skills can earn up to £32,000 pa, which is an increase of almost £9,000 pa. As an increasing number of companies prefer to install future-proof fire and security systems, many recruiters are looking for multi-skilled engineers with the necessary background in IT. This demand has rocketed in recent years.

There are other factors that have played a role in reshaping the fire and security job market. For example, the construction industry has expanded by 5% in 2014, which is its best performance since 2010. It expects an average of 3% growth between 2015-2019 (source: citb.co.uk) and this is a good sign for fire and security installers, as many of these construction sites require fire and security protection. Once they have been completed, they will still require this protection.

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In conclusion, the demand for state of the art fire and security systems, the steady growth in construction and the significant increase in net immigration and housing demand are just some of the major factors that will have a huge impact on fire and security jobs in the UK. It is estimated that the demand for fire and security engineers with local knowledge will increase steadily between 2016-2018.

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