German airports have an urgent need for skilled security staff

There is a chronic shortage of skilled security staff in airports across Germany, putting at risk the summer travel plans of thousands of holidaymakers.

A new analysis showed that security personnel are in short supply across German airports. In summer 2022, as the aviation industry recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, security checks were often understaffed, leading to lengthy queues that caused many travellers to miss their flights.

With dozens of unfilled positions, there is a considerable risk that similar problems will occur this summer. One solution to solve the problem is state-of-the-art video technology. Used in responsible ways, it can help relieve security staff in a smart, quick, and effective manner by predicting traffic flows via heatmapping, people counting and live analytics.

Video software company Milestone Systems analysed the 10 largest airports in Germany and found a total of 171 job advertisements for security workers. Frankfurt Airport, a major air connections hub in Europe, tops the list. The airport – which handled more than 15 million passengers during the peak travel season in 2022 – registered no less than 40 advertisements for security specialists.

Berlin came closely behind with 33 vacant security jobs. The capital city was followed by Munich with 27 vacancies, and Stuttgart and Cologne with 14 job advertisements each.

Commenting on the analysis, Jos Beernink, Vice President EMEA of Milestone Systems, said:

Milestone’s research also evaluated salaries and working conditions. The analysis found that Hannover provides the top salary for security professionals.

The best-paid security professionals work in Hannover. Here, employees in the security sector can earn up to €3,414 a month working full time. This means that the airport in lower Saxony pays over €500 more than the average monthly salary of all airports surveyed (€2,846).

Hamburg and Düsseldorf rank second and third with €3,414 and €3,261, respectively. More than 80% of the job advertisements refer to full-time positions and five per cent to apprenticeships.

Want to know more about how other airports are using Milestone? Browse through our customer stories here.

For the study, the ten largest airports in Germany were analyzed to find out in which airports the most security personnel are being sought after. Job platforms such as Indeed and StepStone were used, as well as the career websites of the airports, to collect given data. The information was filtered by keywords such as "security guard", "security" or "airport security". Factors such as salary and type of employment were also considered.

Milestone Systems is a leading provider of open platform video management software; technology that helps the world see how to ensure safety, protect assets, and increase business efficiency. Milestone enables an open platform community that drives collaboration and innovation in the development and use of network video technology, with reliable and scalable solutions that are proven in more than 500,000 installations worldwide. Founded in 1998, Milestone is a stand-alone company in the Canon Group. For more information visit: www.milestonesys.com. For news and other press releases, visit our Newsroom. 

Press release also available in German.