The unemployment rate broke 8 percent recently and we have learned from history that our crime rates climb in direct correlation with unemployment. Due to this, businesses and organizations must protect their doors along with their reputation. By simply adding ID cards and requiring employees to wear and display their identification cards while on the job can greatly discourage crime and enhance a company’s perception to their customers.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports show that in the US from 1970 to 1993 crime rose with the unemployment rate. Later the same report shows that from 1992 to 1996 as the employment rate rose again there was a dramatic drop in crime particularly in poverty areas. There are different reports that show that a 2% drop in unemployment would be equivalent to a 30% drop in assaults, 14% drop in rape and robbery and a 9% decline in burglary. With these statistics all based on a drop of unemployment, one can only assume the reverse is true as well. Since we have had a nearly 3% increase in unemployment in the past twelve months that would indicate based on these statistics a 13.5% increase in burglaries alone just in the past year.

Directly tied to the unemployment are the number of corporate and personal bankruptcies that have taken place recently. According to the United States Insolvency Service there has been a 56% increase in insolvent businesses in the first quarter of this year over the same quarter in 2008. This equates to nearly 5,000 businesses that have become upside down financially in the first quarter of 2009. Additionally in the month of May 2009 there were over 120,000 personal and corporate bankruptcies filed. With these numbers it’s easy to assume there are many newly unemployed and desperate people everywhere.

With statistics like these it should be clear that organizations need to protect their reputation and their property. Adding ID cards to your employees or members is a simple and effective way to enhance your security with identification. Identification cards also add to the perception of customers when employees are out of the office and add a sense of comfort to your customers and especially your prospective customers who are new to your business.

There are more sophisticated locks utilizing RFID, barcodes, biometric scanners and the like and they can all be added to enhance the security on your ID cards. These technologies are always becoming more affordable every year thanks to the speed and production of the security industry and mass production. However, by simply requiring employee’s to wear ID badges in the workplace adds to a company’s level of security. Today there are solutions available for both large and small organizations through online security companies that offer ID cards as a primary business. Organizations like FullIdentity.com can also integrate background checks, holograms, RFID and whatever technology you are looking to implement into your identification card solution to protect your business.

Business has been hard enough in this economy when people are spending less and watching for every opportunity to save a few dollars. As business tends to tighten, we have to be sure to take the very best care of each and every customer. After all, sales are a bit tougher to attain when everyone is watching their bottom line. One thing businesses can take care of during times like these is their reputation. Protecting a business’s reputation by not allowing criminals or other’s to impersonate or infiltrate your organization is critical. ID cards can be a huge factor in the verification of who someone says they are and add to a company’s credibility.