While most of us will be sitting down to a turkey dinner with family and friends on Christmas Day, spare a thought for janitors, who will likely spend the festive period cleaning up after other people.
Hospitality is particularly busy and hectic over the festive period, as this sector is there to make sure everyone else has a good time. Once the partying is over for the day, they have to clean up the mess.
What does a janitor do?
Critical to maintaining cleanliness and safety standards in any work environment, janitors are much busier during the festive season due to the amount of Christmas parties and dinners. Unfortunately, they are often underappreciated - especially since some Christmas parties leave the venue in a terrible mess.
When most of us are tucked up in bed following a party or evening meal, many janitors will be working late to ensure the venue is ready for the following day. They won’t have a lot of time off over the festive period.
In addition, janitor services also stretch to deep cleaning offices ready for business to resume in the New Year. Consequently, top quality janitorial supplies are essential to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene standards that venues require, especially at this hectic time of year.
Janitor life
More than 957,000 people are employed as janitors in the UK. Spread across many sectors including property and housing, estate management, industrial cleaning, hygiene operatives, hospitality, environmental services and more, the majority work in public services and hospitality.
The gender of workers is split fairly evenly, with 53% being male and 47% female. The majority of janitors (57%) are aged between 25 and 54, with 42% being 55 years old and above and the remainder being under 25.
Female workers tend to dominate when it comes to the general cleaning of buildings - 77% of janitorial staff are female. More men tend to work in industrial environments.
Some janitors take the position as a second job to put food on the table, according to surveys. For example, one evening janitor of a block of managed apartments was a computer operator in a government department by day.
Being a janitor is one of the most undervalued professions, according to research into public perception of the job. In reality, it is an extremely important role and training has improved significantly in recent years.
Janitors came into their own during the Covid pandemic, when they played a crucial role in keeping work and public premises safe and clean.
It’s hard work at the best of times. A physically demanding job, scrapes and bruises are a way of life, due to moving equipment, using tools and cleaning vigorously.
In addition, there’s a good chance you’ll be exposed to harsh cleaning chemicals that may cause skin irritation, or health issues if you inhale them. Good quality gloves are an important part of your PPE.
Depending on the workplace, janitors often deal with unpleasant tasks and rubbish that no-one else wants to touch. For example, duties in stadiums or event arenas can include scraping chewing gum off the floor, cleaning up sticky drink spills and picking up carelessly discarded food waste.
Unfortunately, some members of the public think disposing of waste on the floor is acceptable, as they have the irresponsible mindset, “That’s what the janitor is paid for!”
Booming industry
The cleaning and hygiene industry provides an important service in the UK, employing around 957,000 people and contributing £55 billion annually to the economy. An estimated 66,000 businesses operate in the sector.
Turnover has increased by 30% since 2013, bucking the trend of businesses declining during the pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis.
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