More companies are adding bodyguards to their payrolls in the wake of global unrest, downsizing and the high visibility of today's executive officers. 

     The efforts are taking on new urgency because of the NATO bombings in Yugoslavia, which have spurred worries that those opposed to the attacks may target U.S. businesses and their employees located overseas. 

     "Companies are putting whatever plans they have to do business there on the back burner, "says Fred Rustmann of CTC International Group, a provider of business intelligence and investigative support based in West Palm Beach, Fla. "People aren't going. It's the whole former Soviet Union. It's too risky." 

     Calling the growth in executive protection "phenomenal," Robert Oatman says he's trained more than 240 personnel since 1995 and has turned people away from his classes because they're full. 

     Companies such as The Limited and United Parcel Service are turning to executive protection training. Firms such as AT&T and General Motors provide protection to their executives. And big names such as Ronald Perelman, CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, the parent company of Revlon, now use security agents. NBC President and CEO Robert Wright has used personal security during Olympic Games. 

     "It's the world we live in," says Oatman, who runs an executive protection training school based in Towson, Md. "It's no longer an oddity to see an executive with someone providing this kind of service." 

     Fees can top $1,000 daily, and some firms that send executives into high-risk areas also are buying kidnap and ransom insurance. 

     Studies show concern about executive security is on the rise. A new study by the Pinkerton security firm found executive protection and crisis management was the No. 2 concern, behind workplace violence, among the 269 security personnel surveyed. That eclipsed employee theft, fraud, white-collar crime and drugs in the workplace as concerns. 

     Threats exist because CEOs are earning million-dollar salaries and becoming celebrities. Layoffs have made executives attractive targets for disgruntled workers. And executives are increasingly traveling into areas beset by unrest as companies go global. Some firms also provide the service when there are large staff meetings in the USA. 

     But these aren't muscle-bound bodyguards like those often seen flanking Hollywood stars. Today's corporate breed is a protector and an executive assistant, a savvy chaperone more likely to wear a three-piece suit than a gun. "There's also a lot of personal ego involved," says Bob Duggan at Executive Security International, a training school in Aspen, Colo. "If your peers have protection, then you want it. There's no question the industry has grown."