Companies employing professional cleaners are constantly struggling with a labour shortage. The reason for this, among others, is the low social prestige and the general lack of appreciation of the profession. B+N Referencia Zrt. is dedicated to gaining respect for the cleaners, whose work is always crucial but highlighted during the pandemic.
Cleanliness can easily be taken for granted
Based on professional cleaners’ accounts we know that wherever they work – in an office building, a hospital or on a train carriage, – how we leave a premise makes a huge difference. If we don’t take our stuff from the table, if we don’t throw the litter into the bin, if we spill something but don’t report it, it takes way longer for them to clean up after us. Besides general cleaning, disinfection is now part of the daily routine. In addition to the compulsory surfaces, they sanitize everything we might get in contact with, even the smallest things, like door handles and knobs.
„We have got used to the order and cleanliness around us so much that we simply take it for granted but fail to notice the people who make that happen. It is our responsibility to increase the public appreciation of this profession because if everything stays the same, soon nobody is going to be left to clean the country.” – makes the point Erika Kókai, B+N head of marketing.
To gain prestige for the cleaning profession, Hungary’s biggest facility management company, B+N Referencia Zrt. had even organized a social sensitivity campaign. The launch of „Look around and see!” coincided with the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. „We launched the campaign to make the public aware of the socially indispensable, yet almost invisible work of cleaners”, said Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi, CEO of B+N. „The groundwork had been laid for long months and by the time we were ready, COVID-19 reached Hungary. The 45 thousand cleaners in the county have always deserved our heartfelt appreciation, but in these times they deserve it 100 times more. We employ 4100 cleaners who are doing a great job cleaning public transportation vehicles, hospitals and office buildings. The majority of our society take cleanliness for granted but do not appreciate the people who make it happen. With your campaign “Look round and see” we want to show an alternative approach.”
Cleaners deserve better
Most people think those who take cleaning as a profession failed to pursue their education, which is far from the truth. The majority of cleaners do this work out of passion, many even commute from the countryside to the city every day for making a stable living. They are not ashamed of their work, but what hurts them is when people look through them as if they were invisible. They deserve better.
We should not forget, that professional cleaning requires more than a bucket of water and a mop: cleaners need to have sufficient knowledge about the chemicals they use, have a good physical condition, be reliable, (as cleaning is often a matter of trust) and have the expertise to handle the machinery.
