Is Beefed-Up Security Counter or Compulsory?

Facebook has announced plans to expand its campus with open-concept designs (credit: Gensler).

SAN BRUNO, CA—The shooting at YouTube was indeed a wake-up call, occurring as many of Silicon Valley’s largest companies are pushing to make offices more accessible to the public. Facebook, for example, has detailed plans to expand its campus, however, these efforts seemingly contradict measures to add heightened security. Is this counter intuitive to a synergistic and collaborative work environment or is it a necessary measure to protect employees?

“The basic concept of security has changed with this higher level of violence,” Tim Tosta, partner, Arent Fox, tells GlobeSt.com. “The security used to start at the company lobby and now it is at the ground floor. Companies do risk-based analyses to determine the potential for physical harm and sense of urgency. The determination is often that it’s a smaller risk but when a shooting happens, it’s big news so it becomes a bigger issue. Then companies up the ante and other companies bump up security. This gets expensive and bothersome for employees. Plus, it’s hard to winnow out where these shooters are coming from.”