The median wage for a security guard is about $17 an hour. Most companies see this as kind of a service industry job, like McDonald's or Walmart. You can take the test as many times as you want and there's no penalty for taking it five or six times. This isn't someone that's going to make money for them,. It's just someone who's basically standing outside their business, deterring people from stealing things.
The three biggest private employers in North America are Walmart, Amazon, and a security firm you’ve maybe never heard of: Allied Universal. Time’s Alana Semuels explains the rise of poorly trained and poorly paid private security guards across America.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Michael Raphael, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices