Some high-end home cleaners are now commanding salaries of up to $100,000 as the super-wealthy seek different skill sets to look after their luxurious properties.
Many reportedly view their job description as having changed from purely cleaning and upkeep, to maintenance and preservation – more akin to museum curators.
“You’ve got to know about art. You’ve got to know about antiques. There’s a lot of custom pieces, and of course they’re not replaceable,” one such house-keeper told Bloomberg.
Homes with multimillion-dollar price tags now have furniture and other items to match. “The value of the pieces has increased greatly, even if it’s not the most known artist,” said the worker, who asked to be identified by her first name Gina, due to the sensitivity of her position.
As well as decorations and furniture items, even surfaces can have a huge variety of qualities and finishes that require special treatment. “I just research everything before I even touch anything,” Gina told the outlet.
Such skills need to be taught, with staffing agencies such as Toronto-based Charles MacPherson Associates offering special training programs including the “Fundamentals of Household Management.”
The five week course, which costs $3,000 for the standard program, covers areas including worker-employer communication, household organization, security, and “mechanicals.”
“Not anybody can clean, and cleaning is not for just stupid people who can’t get a job,” MacPherson told Bloomberg. “Cleaning correctly is actually a skill that has to be taught and learned, and it’s actually a serious job.”
He notes that since the Covid-19 pandemic, salaries have risen with demand for expertise in household maintenance. Before the pandemic, executive housekeepers might make $60,000 – now they can pull in $100,000 easily.
“Rich people are richer, and they’re buying more delicate things,” MacPherson added. “They want their homes to be more museum-quality, versus just normal stuff.
“And then there’s a lack of supply of trained people. You put those two together — it’s supply and demand — and salaries go through the roof.”
The demand for experience comes years after a boom in contemporary art and design galleries providing high end boutique furniture. Some are just now realizing that the price of such statement pieces does not stop after point of purchase.
