Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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Revealed: UK outside Europe top 10 for average cleaning salaries

Cleaners earn more in 10 other European countries than they do in the UK, according to the latest research.

A study from London Cleaning System showed that the average wage of a UK cleaner is £7.27 an hour, significantly less than the top players across the continent - and even the rest of the world.

Forming an integral part of the service industry here in the UK and a vital cog in the economy, cleaners are largely unsung heroes. And, with one in three families now having a cleaner, how does the job fare in terms of pay and national living wage across the globe?

There are a large number of workers who work in the cleaning industry and a big portion of those are migrants. According to the Office of National Statistics, 669,000 migrants are employed in elementary positions, with 510,000 of those being EU nationals.

EU workers fear the impact of Brexit on jobs and once freedom of movement (as we know it) ends in March 2019, as many as 94% of EU workers currently employed in hotels and restaurants and three-quarters of construction and manufacturing workers may not be allowed to stay, under immigration rules.

But, is the wage for cleaners enough to have attracted those migrants in the first place? Not according to the research. While the average hourly wage of £7.27 is above the national minimum wage of £6.50, it is still lower than in a host of European countries as well as many across the rest of the world - particularly in English speaking countries - although it is significantly more than places like the United Arab Emirates, which has been under severe pressure from the international community for the working conditions of its migrant, domestic workers.

As the 11th highest in Europe, the UK pays more than £7 more per hour than a cleaner gets in Ukraine - showing huge pay disparity, and distinctly more than the vast majority of countries... but we are still some way off the biggest payers.

That award goes to Luxembourg, where cleaners earn £13.17 an hour. This is one of just four countries that offers such wages - with Belgium (£11.55), Finland (£11.08) and the Netherlands (£10.57) making up the rest of the top four and the only countries to pay more than £10 an hour for the service.

However, with a minimum wage of £10.31, Luxembourg certainly doesn't take the award for the largest difference when compared to the national minimum wage.

According to the study, the best value for money for being a cleaner comes from Poland. With an average wage of £8.47 and a national minimum wage of just £2.43, that's a 249% differential for a better standard of living.

Other countries posting triple digit differences are Lithuania (106%) and Russia (135%) with Bulgaria (92%) and Spain (81%) not too far behind. It should be taken into account that Spain does also have a 17.5% unemployment rate while Germany and Belarus have just a 4% and 0.7% unemployment rate and 8% and 75% difference respectively.

With the need for these services growing across the UK, changes to immigration regulations could see us lose more than half a million EU migrants from leading cleaning companies in London.

London Cleaning System is a family-run professional cleaning company serving the areas of Greater London and Essex. Starting out in 2013 with a focus on domestic cleaning, the company has quickly grown and expanded into commercial cleaning, removals, gardening and handyman services. Our cleaning services include window and carpet cleaning, end of tenancy cleaning, and office cleaning.

www.londoncleaningsystem.co.uk

7th September 2017