The Security Leadership Research Institute (SLRI) has released the results of its 2021 Corporate Security Organizational Structure, Cost of Services and Staffing Benchmark.

A few highlights:

  • 41% of respondents operated at the Director level.
  • Average security budget reported was $13,254,850.
  • On average, respondents reported one security employee for every 93 employees.

Security leaders have used the budget, title, and reporting data provided by this benchmark to avoid budget reductions and secure job title changes to better reflect their level of responsibility.

The 2021 results include more detailed data breakdown and more comparison data than previous versions of the benchmark. The full report includes:    

  • report-to level by organization revenue
  • domains managed compared to security budget
  • report-to function vs. reporting level
  • budget by square footage
  • budget as a percentage of revenue
  • budget by sites covered
  • budget per employee
  • uniformed security vs organizational employees
  • personnel cost as a percentage of budget

The report also details security’s responsibility and accountability by program (e.g., supply chain security, IT forensic investigation, business continuity, asset protection), broken down by revenue, number of employees, budget, and more.

For more detailed highlights of the Corporate Security Organizational Structure, Cost of Services and Staffing Benchmark, click here.