Security Industry Specialists (SIS) loses contract at Facebook, layoffs looming in multiple cities

January 24, 2017

More than a year after losing Twitter and two years after losing Google, the contractor responsible for providing security at Facebook’s U.S-based data centers will be laying off workers at the end of this month, as the popular networking website shifts security companies.

Security Industry Specialists Inc., a California-based boutique company that provides security for businesses and events, will lose the account to G4S Secure Solutions. G4S is the world’s largest security contractor--operating in more than 100 countries--and will assume duties according to Lee Weinstein, President of Weinstein PR, which represents Facebook.

“I’m a security officer at a tech company in Seattle. We formed a union at our site and that makes all the difference. I have job protections in the event a new contractor comes in. It’s peace of mind. I mean, all of us protect people every day when we come to work. We need protections too, that’s why I support the SIS officers Amazon HQ who are forming a union right now.”-Officer Josh Hoffman, AlliedUniversal

Josh this one

In the last few years SIS has been the subject of ongoing investigations including the Prineville data-center where OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) cited multiple violations--two for “serious” violations and one “repeat” with proposed monetary penalties. At Amazon HQ in Seattle, SIS settled charges with the city over complaints of violating the city’s sick time law. In addition, after a federal investigation, SIS settled allegations that it for interfered with those officers’ rights to form a union.

SIS is currently the subject of a multi-year inquiry by the California Bureau of Security & Investigative Services--tasked with regulating the private security industry--where they allege SIS engaged in unlicensed security practices.

Of note, Facebook landed in rural Prineville, Oregon in 2011, as part of a development plan aimed at lifting the region out of the recession. Since then, the area’s unemployment rate was cut in half—from 14.3% to 7%. Facebook has continued to expand its operations and Weinstein noted they will complete its third data center in the area by summer.