The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions urged many offices to make the transition to remote working. Some companies have closed their offices for good and fully embraced the work-from-home setup. But many others are only open to this setup on a temporary basis. Thus, they closed their offices for the time being.
But that doesn’t mean these offices are sitting completely empty. Some of their equipment is still there. Their computers and other technological equipment. Their furniture is there. Even some of their art pieces still hung in the lobbies.
This is why business establishments have become a target for break-ins and theft. Many burglars found the lockdown as an opportunity to break into business establishments. Because the pandemic caused a lot of people their jobs, many of them have become desperate. They resorted to drastic measures just to earn a few bucks, even if such drastic measures also included committing a crime.
Assessing the Situation
There have been multiple studies that found the changes in crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some crimes have higher rates because of the lockdown. One of them is domestic violence. Some areas in the United States have experienced an increase of as high as 27 percent.
But burglaries in business establishments have significantly increased. In Los Angeles, California, studies have found that there was a 64 percent increase in retail burglaries. In New York City on the other side of the country, there’s a 75 percent increase in burglaries in business establishments.
Effects on Businesses
Businesses all over the world, especially small ones, have taken a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the lockdown restrictions, people were forced to stay at home. They didn’t wander into retail stores, looking for something to buy. They didn’t hang out in bars and coffee shops with their friends. They didn’t go to dinner with their families to celebrate special occasions. As a result, businesses had to close their doors. They had to let go of some of their workers.
The last thing that they needed is to deal with the aftermath of burglaries. Unfortunately, many of them still experienced the effects of break-ins to their businesses. Because of the loss of their equipment, products, and other things of value from their offices and stores, their struggle to stay afloat became even more difficult.
What You Can Do
The pandemic and the rise in the rate of burglaries can be seen as a wake-up call for us. Businesses need to improve their security. And that comes in various forms. The most tried and true way of ensuring security is hiring actual security officers to guard your business establishment. If you have very sensitive and valuable equipment and products in your establishment, you may have to consider hiring armed contract security for your company.
You can also improve your security through technological equipment. You can install sensors on your doors and windows. And such sensors would alert you or the authorities whenever there is any suspicious behavior.
While you’re on the mission to improve the security of your company, you should also consider improving your network security. Although cybersecurity breach is not the same as burglaries, it’s still a form of theft. Hackers might access your data and your finances. So consider hiring IT professionals to improve your cybersecurity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a very challenging time for businesses. And their situation even became worse because of crimes such as break-ins and theft. Fortunately, there has been recent progress with the COVID-19 vaccine and the slow but steady recovery of the economy. This has been helping businesses open their doors again. More customers are reaching out for their products or services. And more employees are able to go back to the offices.