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This is Work - Keeping Space Clean

A little acknowledgement and recognition to go to an unsung hero occupation in the workforce, for the people working to make sure our surroundings businesses are neat, clean, tidy, and ready for operation. I am speaking about the Cleaners, Janitors, Maids, and Maintenance/Housekeeping department staff for pretty much every industry you can imagine. It is highly likely you frequent a business who either directly employs a staff member to keep the organization tidy or contracts with a company who sends a staff member to do the work.

 


I am fortunate. Daily, my work tasks do not include cleaning. When I leave after a day of other tasks, someone comes in to get the office clean and ready for the next day. I visit other businesses and organizations, and they either directly employ people or contract with people to keep things clean. Many times, I do not come in contact with the maintenance people. The only hint they are in the area are the carts of supplies either coming or going down a hall.

I salute these folks. Let’s be honest, people are messy. We may not think much about maintenance staff, but we sure become aware when there is no one to clean up after us. The classic example is having to use a public restroom at a business only to find it is not well maintained. The first though that comes to mind is where is the cleaning staff.

Jobs are plentiful, yet many are part-time, entry-level, and hover around minimum wage. Many of them also do not require any experience. Everything someone needs to know, t can be learned quickly on the job. Many do not have educational requirements or even the requirement to have English language fluency. If you are a daytime worker, you may not come across them in your routine work, since the jobs can be during non-traditional hours and weekends. It just varies depending on settings. A Cleaner for a large office building may start their day when most people go home, while a hospital will have three shifts of housekeeping and maintenance staff on hand. It just varies depending on the setting.

The workers who help keep our spaces clean, deserve a mention and respect as workers. They keep all the other parts moving in systems. This is work. This is keeping space clean. #thisiswork

 ~Karen Cirincione

Email: kcirincione@gmail.com     

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione

Twitter: @kcirincione 

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