Cleaning still a dirty word?
December 20th 2005 A British Cleaning Council survey published earlier this month suggested much of the UK public considers cleaning beneath them – with 83% stating they would never become a cleaner.
The BCC-commissioned telephone survey of 1000 people across the UK found middle class males from London least likely to consider the profession.
BCC Chairman Judith West said the findings were ‘shocking’ given the attempts to raise the profession’s profile. “People look down on cleaning, yet there are many people taking it up as a career and setting up their own cleaning firms – providing them with future business opportunities.
“Cleaning is a skilled occupation with many companies now investing in NVQs or in-house and BICSc training for their staff. It is possible to get a degree in cleaning.”
However, the BCC could just as easily claim the survey results as a triumph: it implies almost a fifth of the working population would consider a job in cleaning. Given the UK population is approximately 60m (with 65%, or 39million people, between the ages of 16 and 64 years old) the potential UK cleaning recruitment pool, at 17% according to the BCC’s survey, is in the region of 6.63 million.
Perhaps the next BCC survey could ask more incisive questions, such as why the 83% would not consider the job, and what would have to change within the industry to alter such perceptions. More articles from British Cleaning Council: | 
