I work as a janitorial supply salesman & housekeepers don't clean

"Cleaning" has no place on a minimalism sub<br><br>I have been working as a salesman in the janitorial supply industry for about 15 years. I work with housekeepers and manager at commercial buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, and municipal buildings. I work from my laptop so I can sit in the break room for a couple of hours and chat with the housekeepers while the manager is in a meeting. I work in the D.C. suburbs so I've worked with a lot of various people.<br><br>I have come to the conclusion that most housekeepers don't clean very much. The work is hard, and the pay is low. Staffing is also hard for them, so they don't want to work harder than they have to or they will start looking for a new job.<br><br>If you are going to a hospital, you might want to bring some Clorox wipes with you. I have been in hundreds of buildings and met thousands of housekeepers. More than half of them don't any work. They don't want to be there anymore than I want to be there. The building's occupants seem to bend over backwards to disrespect the housekeepers. The occupants treats the building and the housekeepers like garbage. The occupants don't seem to care very much about the housekeepers, so the housekeepers don't care about the occupants.<br><br>I would say that about 50% of housekeepers are lazy<br><br>-15% are lazy and don't like their job<br><br>-15% are lazy and like their job<br><br>-15% are lazy and like their job, but the building doesn't give them enough time to complete the job<br><br>-15% are lazy and like their job, but the building doesn't give them the right resources to complete the job<br><br>-10% are lazy and like their job, but the building doesn't give them enough training to complete the job<br><br>-15% are lazy and like their job, but the building is horribly designed and laid out, and they can't get the job done<br><br>I would say that about 20% of housekeeper are hard-working and happy (with lots of drinking on the job). They normally have co-workers that they like and normally have a good manager. They work hard and are proud of their work. They like their job and they like making the building shine. They want to impress the occupants.<br><br>I would say that about 30% of housekeeper are hard-working but unhappy. They normally have a bad relationship with their manager. The manager doesn't want them to use too many supplies (paper towels, toilet paper, soap, trash bags, cleaning chemicals etc.), so they have to work a lot harder to rush around and do the job. The manager doesn't want them to spend too much time cleaning because they don't think it's worth it.<br><br>If they are doing their job correctly, the occupants don't even notice them. If they are doing their job poorly, the occupants will complain to the manager. So the housekeepers work extra hard to get the job right, but the occupants don't notice them. I've worked with a housekeeper that is probably the most meticulous person I've met, and she is constantly having a hard time. She is the head housekeeper at a large building, so she is getting paid about 50% more than the other housekeepers, but the job is a lot more difficult and the occupants don't even know she works there. She's always getting yelled at by the manager and the occupants. She does an excellent job but the manager doesn't want her to work harder than she has to, and the occupants complain if she doesn't do a good enough job.<br><br>So if you are going to a hospital, you might want to bring some Clorox wipes with you. Your mom died on that elevator because the housekeeper didn't clean the buttons<br><br>Edit - I'm going to convince my girlfriend to teach me how to be a housekeeper so I can see what their daily job is like. Anyone know what type of commercial building is the hardest?<br><br>Edit - Thanks for the silver. <br><br>I would like to rephrase my initial statement. If you contract a housekeeping company, you might want to bring some Clorox wipes with you. Places like grocery stores, restaruants, and Target/retail hire housekeepers as employees rather than hiring a housekeeping contractor. You can expect better results from employees. If you go into a large office building, they probably hired a contractor. Same for a lot of government buildings. <br><br>I would also like to rephrase my estimate. If you contract a housekeeping company, I would uneducatedly guess that you will get:<br><br>- 20% good service and happy housekeepers<br><br>- 30% good service and unhappy housekeepers<br><br>- 30% bad service and happy housekeepers<br><br>- 20% bad service and unhappy housekeepers<br><br>I would also like to rephrase my estimate of why I think they do a bad job. I believe that the largest reasons why they don't provide a good service is:<br><br>- 50% because the contractor is cheap and won't hire enough housekeepers<br><br>- 30% because the housekeepers don't care<br><br>- 20% because the contractor doesn't train their employees well<br><br>Like you said, there are a lot of great housekeepers out there but you need to hire a good company to get that service.