1. How many employees are needed for a 24-hour job – 24 hours, 365 days per year with one employee per shift?

For 2024: The answer is 4.979 security guards, where the principle of calculation is as follows:

  • The number of man-hours required is 8784 (24 hours multiplied by 366 days per year)
  • The working hours for 2024 are 2008 (251 working days multiplied by 8 hours)
  • 160 hours are to be deducted from that number (20 days of paid annual leave multiplied by 8 hours)
  • The working hours for 2024 are 1848 hours.
  • The night working hours in 2024 for a 24-hour job are 2928 (366 days multiplied by 8 hours)
  • The night work in 2024 for a 24-hour job after equating night shift work to day shift work using the coefficient 1.1428 is equivalent to 3346 hours (2928 hours of night work multiplied by 1.1428)
  • The day shift work in 2024 amounts to 5856 (16 hours of day shift work per day multiplied by 366 days per year)
  • The total number of hours to be worked is 9202 (5856 hours of day shift work plus 3346 hours of night shift work equated to day shift work hours)

The number of security guards covering 9202 hours (number of hours to be worked) divided by 1848 hours (the hours that each worker can work for 2024) is 4.979 security guards per job position.


For 2023: The answer is 5.03 security guards and the principle of calculation is as follows:

  • The number of man-hours required is 8760 (24 hours multiplied by 365 days per year)
  • The number of working hours for 2023 is 1 984 (248 working days multiplied by 8 hours)
  • 160 hours are to be deducted from that number (20 days of paid annual leave multiplied by 8 hours)
  • The working hours for 2023 are 1 824 hours.
  • The night shift work in 2023 for a 24-hour position is 2920 (365 days multiplied by 8 hours)
  • The night shift work in 2023 for a 24-hour position after equating night shift work to day work using the coefficient 1.1428 is equivalent to 3337 hours (2920 hours of night work multiplied by 1.1428)
  • The hours of day shift work in 2023 amount to 5840 (16 hours of day work per day multiplied by 365 days per year)
  • The total number of hours to be worked is 9177 (5840 hours of day work plus 3337 hours of night work equated to day work)

The number of security guards covering 9177 hours (the number of hours to be worked) divided into 1824 hours (the hours each worker can work for 2023) is 5.03 security guards per job position.