Security guards
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Controlling access to establishments, monitoring and authorizing the entrance or departure of employees and visitors, checking identification and issuing security passes37
- Responding to alarms, investigating disturbances and contacting superiors, police or fire fighters as appropriate24
- Performing security checks of passengers and luggage at airports18
- Patrolling premises and checking doors, windows and gates to prevent and detect signs of unauthorised entry16
- Picking up and ensuring the safe delivery of cash and valuables to banks, automated teller machines and retail establishments.15
- Circulating among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order, protect property from theft or vandalism and enforce the regulations of the establishment13
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Controlling access to establishments, monitoring and authorizing the entrance or departure of employees and visitors, checking identification and issuing security passes(37)
- Responding to alarms, investigating disturbances and contacting superiors, police or fire fighters as appropriate(24)
- Performing security checks of passengers and luggage at airports(18)
- Patrolling premises and checking doors, windows and gates to prevent and detect signs of unauthorised entry(16)
- Picking up and ensuring the safe delivery of cash and valuables to banks, automated teller machines and retail establishments.(15)
- Circulating among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order, protect property from theft or vandalism and enforce the regulations of the establishment(13)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 20.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Controlling access to establishments, monitoring and authorizing the entrance or departure of employees and visitors, checking identification and issuing security passes
- • Responding to alarms, investigating disturbances and contacting superiors, police or fire fighters as appropriate
- • Circulating among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order, protect property from theft or vandalism and enforce the regulations of the establishment
- • Picking up and ensuring the safe delivery of cash and valuables to banks, automated teller machines and retail establishments.
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Protective services workers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Protective services workers |
|---|---|
| Romania | 2.9% · 221 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.8% · 83 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 2.4% · 106 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 2.4% · 8 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 2.3% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 2.3% · 107 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 2.3% · 503 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 2.2% · 37 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 2.1% · 110 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 1.9% · 641 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 1.9% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 1.8% · 48 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 1.8% · 94 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 1.5% · 447 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 1.4% · 21 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 1.3% · 563 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 1.3% · 227 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 1.3% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 1.3% · 11 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 1.2% · 286 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 1.2% · 12 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 1.2% · 60 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.1% · 31 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 1.0% · 46 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.9% · 90 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 0.9% · 23 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 0.9% · 43 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 0.9% · 46 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 0.8% · 26 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 0.7% · 20 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Service and sales workers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland3,559
- Ireland2,981
- Iceland2,762
- Norway2,734
- Luxembourg2,698
- Belgium2,689
- Denmark2,619
- Germany2,310
- Sweden2,292
- Finland2,182
- Netherlands2,147
- Austria2,135
- EU272,105
- France2,099
- Italy2,088
- Slovenia1,822
- Malta1,773
- Spain1,759
- Lithuania1,577
- Czechia1,467
- Poland1,464
- Croatia1,458
- Greece1,421
- Cyprus1,410
- Slovakia1,403
- Romania1,372
- Hungary1,299
- Estonia1,266
- Portugal1,202
- Latvia1,186
- Bulgaria917
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Protective services workers group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?