With over 1.47 million workers in the UK cleaning industry, the sector is a highly populated and varied one. Roles include anything from street cleaning to housekeeping, gardening to window cleaning, admin work to management, HR to accounting, and sales to waste disposal. Together, they make up an impressive 5% of the UK Workforce, and while the industry as a whole employs slightly more men than women, some roles like domestic cleaners see women represent 79% of all positions.
While, in many ways, women are central to the success of the industry, harmful stereotypes can prove detrimental to a woman’s career and act as a roadblock for pursuing further success. This is too often reflected in the level of compensation received. Despite the gender pay gap decreasing over recent years, full-time female employees still earn 7.7% less than full-time male employees for the same work, making it especially pertinent to fully recognize the efforts of women across the industry.
As International Women’s Day rolls around once again, Vanguard Cleaning wanted to celebrate the phenomenal women that make our company something to be truly proud of. We reached out to our staff to ask about their experiences and thoughts about being a woman in the cleaning industry, and received some great responses. From our dedicated frontline cleaners, to our support staff and ops managers who tie it all together – we wanted to showcase their stories in this blog.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I get plenty of interaction with people such as the staff and customers where I work, which is very pleasant. It is also very satisfying to go home at the end of the day knowing you’ve done a good job and kept your workplace clean for others to benefit from.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
The job can be very physically demanding, as you are constantly bending over and moving around. There’s sometimes a few aches and pains involved, but at least it keeps me active and mobile!
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
I would recommend it. There’s plenty of job satisfaction to be gained and it keeps you busy and occupied.
Mandy began her career as cleaning staff, first acting as a mobile cleaner before moving into a static role. Since then, she has risen through the ranks to become our Ops Manager for Shrewsbury. She now manages dozens of sites across the region, working with cleaning staff and clients to ensure service excellence.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I love working with people. It’s great to travel on-site and talk to people from all walks of life – both our cleaners who make everything happen and other staff at head office. Having a nice chat can brighten your day, and while sometimes they will drive you insane, I wouldn’t trade it in for the world.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
I think sometimes you must work harder than others to earn the same level of respect. The industry is very male-oriented at the top-end, and as one of the only female ops managers, I feel that my role has key differences compared with some of my colleagues. For example, it can be easier to speak to some of our women cleaning staff, but on the other hand, it can be more challenging to speak to male cleaning staff. I’ve had the odd occasion where someone hasn’t responded well to taking instructions and feedback from me, so I think that’s always a concern.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Just go for it, because you never know where it will lead you. I’ve made my way to ops manager now, but started out as a cleaner and certainly faced my fair share of setbacks. Before I got this position, I was meant to be promoted to ops support, but this fell through. Like many others, I also had a hard time fitting my job around my partner and children. What helped when finding a position that suited me was persistence, so I would advise anyone to consider this when entering the industry.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I enjoy making areas clean, especially if they need some TLC. Working in a medical practice, this is very important as patients or staff could be put off by dirt and it’s very satisfying to see how my cleaning makes a difference.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
Finding a job that fits in with my family life was definitely a challenge. Now I’m working at a medical practice, we do our cleaning after hours which fits in with my schedule a lot better.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Many women clean at home, so why not do it for a job and get paid for it? You can learn new things which will help you clean better in your own house.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
In my job, there’s a lot to stay on top of, but I am trusted enough to have my own independence and agency when it comes to getting it done. It’s rewarding to be so trusted and to have greater flexibility to complete my responsibilities. At the same time, if I ask for help it will be given to me, so I always know I am supported in my role.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
While health and safety is obviously vital, it can be difficult to get the buy-in from everybody. Life and day-to-day challenges get in the way sometimes, and it can be a struggle to get everyone to fully take on board the importance of the protocols we follow, so that is a key challenge that must be tackled. I also know from past experience that many women in the industry struggle to find a schedule that suits them, especially when considering family and personal commitments.
I saw a quote recently which stuck with me – ‘Women are expected to work like they don’t have children and raise children as if they don’t work’. I think that’s a very powerful message to think on.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
My advice would be to take the chance and just jump in. Don’t weigh up the pros and cons too much, as you risk overthinking it and missing a potentially great opportunity. As you progress in your career, there will be more space to grow and take on greater responsibility.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
The people I work with are the best part of my job. Being with them is enjoyable and makes the day go faster. Job satisfaction is also good, because you can see the results of your work as you complete it.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
A lot of cleaning is done before or after the daytime, so it can involve unsocial hours in the early morning and late nights. It isn’t great coming into work when it’s dark, and it means I am sometimes sleeping when my family and friends are awake.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Do the best job that you can and make sure to listen to any instructions or feedback that is given to you. This is the best way you can improve and learn more skills.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
Every single day is different – I never know what will come up. I absolutely love speaking to everyone , and as strange as it sounds, many of the calls I receive have nothing to do with payroll, but are simply people wanting someone to talk to. Speaking to our cleaners out in the field gives me a great insight into what their day-to-day life is like, allowing me to hear the frustrations they face first-hand. I think everyone just loves a good chit chat (I know I do), and without speaking to those individuals, I wouldn’t enjoy my job as much as I do.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
I think challenges are part of everyday life, but I understand that not everyone experiences the same obstacles or has the same experience. I am fortunate enough to have never experienced any gender-related discrimination. However, I do acknowledge that such challenges exist for many women in this industry.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
My advice would be to choose a company that puts people at the fore, and prioritises gender equality. I would also say find your voice, don’t be afraid to challenge stereotypes and have the drive to push yourself to achieve what you’re capable of.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I enjoy working with people every day – they really make the job for me. Of course, pay day is something to look forward to as well, because I feel like I’ve earned it every month.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
Vanguard has a very high standard when it comes to cleaning, so making sure everything is up to scratch is difficult sometimes. But when everything goes right, it feels great.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
If you’re looking for a job to keep you fit and active, try cleaning. It can be quite demanding but it means you stay fit while working, so you have more time for fun and family.
Dominique is Vanguard’s youngest female ops manager. Starting her career as a flexi cleaner, she was rapidly promoted, earning the position of area support, assistant ops manager, and finally ops manager for the Midlands in just a couple of short years.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
Much of my job is supporting our frontline staff on a day-to-day basis, which is something I greatly enjoy. I think it’s important to create a happy, healthy and friendly environment for all my colleagues, because we all do our best work when at our happiest. I also love making people smile, so if I can support my cleaners and lift them up at the same time, I’ll go home happy.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In Cleaning?
In past jobs, I’ve been paid less than my male colleagues despite performing the same role, so I know all too well that there’s still some gender stereotypes in the industry. I’m young, and I’ve made my way into quite a mature position, so there’s also that factor that some people might not take me as seriously as others who have been around for longer.
As for my role, it can be non-stop at times. It’s difficult to give each of my staff the full time and support they need, but I try to be there as much as possible for them. One of the benefits of being a woman is that I seem more approachable to lots of our female staff members, and they often prefer to come to me with their concerns.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Just do it – while you may start out in a role that isn’t ideal, you don’t have to remain there forever. There are real opportunities to progress in this business and you can forge a career out of it if you wish to. That’s something that I’ve managed to do, having worked as a Flexi cleaner before, and climbed the ladder to get to where I am today. I’d recommend anyone to just jump in and see where it leads you.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I work with a great team every day, and we share the responsibilities between us. I know I am supported by my colleagues and ops manager, and I gain satisfaction from working together as a team to accomplish our goal.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
Cleaning can be very tiring and stressful, especially when short-staffed or dealing with surprise issues. Sometimes you will be under pressure or have time limits to get everything done.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Try to enjoy and take pride in what you do, and the day will go by much faster. Don’t judge yourself by what others think of you – you are your own person and should value yourself.
Chloe is one of Vanguard’s HR professionals. She deals with onboarding, offboarding, employee relations, disciplinaries, and grievances.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
I adore working with people. I’m a very social person myself, so it’s fantastic to work with such a broad array of people across various backgrounds and cultures. I feel that it’s important to give everyone in the business a place to convey their worries or concerns, so I aim to be as approachable as possible. I am also the first point of contact for many new hires, and it’s rewarding to introduce exciting new talent to the business.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
As someone who has worked as a housekeeper for 3-4 years, I’ll answer from this perspective. Many people don’t understand a cleaner’s experience, and the hard work they put into the role. It’s a hard job, and cleaners must sometimes deal with things that make their life difficult. It’s something that I have faced personally, and I know many of our cleaners in the field will know what I’m talking about.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Taking the first step into this industry can be daunting, but it’s something you won’t regret. Having worked on-site before, and now working in HR at headquarters, I can say the people I interact with every day and the culture of the company truly make this job one that I love.
What Do You Enjoy About Your Job?
The satisfaction of doing my job and doing it well. I can clock out and feel proud of what I have achieved that day, and how I have provided a good service for an important facility.
What Are The Challenges You Face As A Woman In The Cleaning Industry?
This job requires a lot of physical activity, so you need to be in good health to handle it. By the end of the day, your feet will definitely ache, but it’s all worth it.
What Advice Would You Give To Women Looking To Enter The Cleaning Industry?
Make sure to follow all the health and safety policies to avoid any accidents to yourself and others. It’s important because everyone always thinks it won’t happen to them until it does – so the rules are there for a reason.
