I could stack shelves in Tesco for that

The Financial Times published a detailed profile of global security firm G4S late last week.

The authors Andrew Hill and Gill Plimmer point out that G4S' criminal justice contracts, while a small part of its overall business, are disproportionately lucrative:

'What G4S calls “care and justice” – which covers both police and prison work – accounts for less than 10 per cent of group revenue but new contracts earn margins of more than 15 per cent, higher than for more mundane guarding.'

They also quote trade union representative Clare Heyes-Bowden, a custody suite worker for G4S in Lincolnshire on moves by G4S to cut the pay of newly-recruited workers:

'Current G4S staff earn about £26,000 a year. Replacement jobs are being advertised at a rate that is £7,000 lower, in line with more menial and less stressful supermarket jobs. Clare Heyes-Bowden says she would not reapply on those terms. “I wouldn’t do this job for £19,000,” she says. “I could stack shelves in Tesco for that.”'

You can read the full report here (free to read but registration required).