Wages and career growth in the commercial cleaning industry. Here's what you need to know.

As the home of the national capital city, Washington DC is a hugely important part of American culture. It has massive historical, cultural, and economic ties with much of the nation’s hotspots and key destinations. However, like large portions of the country, Washington has gone through a relative economic shock during the COVID pandemic. For example, the Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that the US nationwide economy expanded by 5.7% in 2021. This was the fastest rate of growth since 1984. However, while the economy grew, investment within structures fell a further 8.2%.

Part of this stems from the rise of remote work and people doing business through further distances. The need for office space and for staff to travel has had an impact on the development of office spaces and hotel occupancy. This means that construction work has been limited due to a lack of demand for some of the most critical buildings.

That being said, there are nationwide rises in the number of fulfillment and data centers being built. This makes sense, as more companies move into an eCommerce focused approach.

This means that many facilities which were previously used by professionals are no longer being built or developed. Naturally, this has an impact on the economics of any individual state. It also changes the employment opportunities open to the average person. In many states, there is a significant rise in the number of people being hired in janitorial and cleaning roles.

Indeed, California and New York are regarded as two of the largest bases for such employment, with some 13.25 and 19.14 people employed per thousand jobs in these key sectors. This would put them in line with the District of Colombia, which has around 18.52 people employed per thousand within these sectors.

Many individuals are being forced to shift from their previous employment into something in the janitorial and cleaning industries. Those within janitorial and cleaning fields were often seen as less well-paid than those in works like ground maintenance. In 2020, those in the ground maintenance sector could point to a 2020 median pay of around $32,220 – compared to $29,080 for the US average for those in the janitorial and cleaning industry. Compared with the median annual wage for all occupations of $41,950, then, it is clear that many within this industry are only now beginning to be respected for their craft.

Studies have shown that slightly increasing the wage of skilled employees increases the morale of a business' team. Of course it will take time to gain collective participation. As we move past the pandemic the need for cleaning companies continues to grow. In parallel the need to secure skilled team members will also grow with demand.