To think cleaning isn’t an unskilled job

[Thisisus909]

I am shit at cleaning. If I cleaned for 20 hours my house would look tidier but definitely not shiny clean.

I have had several cleaners ad hoc or for a season and they have always amazed me with how much cleaner they get the house.

Maybe I am just particularly bad, but I do think it’s a skill and we should give a bit more respect to those who do practical jobs. Calling it unskilled seems insulting. Just look at all the blogs and insta influencers who make a career out of training us mere mortals in how to do it better.

I was thinking this the other day.... I cleaned my shower and it still looked shit!! When we had a cleaner it always looked sparkling....

I am a "god I can't be bothered but this hasn't been cleaned for 2 weeks" type of cleaner though

Although I'm a cleaner, my own house doesn't sparkle very often as I can't be bothered/have the energy when I get back from working.

The government, for post brexit immigration requirements has classified skilled worker as those who require a level or above or a technical qualification to do their role. It’s available on line.

I don't think it's a skilled job. I'm a cleaner and I'm good at it but I didn't have to do any training or anything. It's a life skill I already had as an adult. My boss gives me some tips to give surfaces en extra shine etc that I didn't know before I started the job so I do learn some new stuff but anyone could do it if they were physically able.

@Bluntness100

The government, for post brexit immigration requirements has classified skilled worker as those who require a level or above or a technical qualification to do their role. It’s available on line.

Yes I get that but it misses the point.

That isn't what most people mean when they talk about skilled work.

It's also clearly it not what some people are talking about on this thread.

I'm sure the government has official definitions of a load of things and I couldn't really care less unless we are talking about something in that specific context.

And it feels like half of us are and half of us aren't.

It’s very skilled. I’m crap at it.

Put another way, the government is not in charge of the English language.

I think cleaning deserves respect as a job. But I don’t think it’s a “skilled job”. More like a job requiring a general life skill + physical fitness/ability + effort/hard work.

A quick google tells me that construction labourer is another “unskilled job”. I couldn’t physically do that job, and it sounds like a very hard job, but it doesn’t make it a skilled job.

The word “skilled” has lost all meaning after this thread. What a weird word.

@SoNotRainbowRhythms

There's no big conspiracy...pay is determined by supply and demand, not by how worthy a job is. Cleaning doesn't have a high barrier to entry so there's no shortage of people able to do it reasonably well, and willing to accept minimum age.
Not many people are able to be surgeons and not many would go through the study and training required to then work for minimum wage. So they're paid a lot more. Women and marginalised groups can be surgeons as well as cleaners.
I do think the minimum wage should be raised though.

As for the question is cleaning a skilled job...well, technically doing anything requires some level of skill. We aren't born knowing how to clean, it has to be learned. So it is a skill, but it's one that many people can learn fairly easily.

The cleaners in the nhs are amazing and very skilled. They have all sorts of machines they operate and are also lovely to the patients. Definitely not unskilled work

I agree that ‘unskilled’ is an unhelpful word to describe a hard, manual job. It kind of denigrates it, and who wants that?

I’m a private cleaner.
It’s bloody hard work and at times, absolutely disgusting (thankfully not very often) but I don’t ever expect to be classed as a skilled trade.
I’m happy with respect and a nice cup of coffee ☺️

Our cleaner is amazing. She gets it all perfect for us and faster than I ever do. I love her

I have the skills I just cannot be bothered to pay that much attention to detail a cleaner does.
It's that attention to detail that gets them repeat custom. I wouldn't pay someone for the end result to be the same as if I did it myself.

A quick youtube videos I can learn how to change a duvet cover in seconds. I can watch how to build a wall, how to plumb in the washer. But I couldn't watch open heart surgery and perform an op which is a skilled profession.

I always hate those tick boxes skilled or unskilled. I always go for other as I think really why does it bloody matter.Just because I'm skilled/unskilled doesn't make me a better/worse person.

And if you're paying people of course you should respect them because otherwise that makes you a bit of a cock as a boss.

Everything people do well is a skill. So yes, good cleaners are skilled in cleaning. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to do their job. I don’t get why people think that only “higher class” professionals are “skilled”. What is it about? Cleaner is clearly not skilled in accounting. But professional and effective cleaning is a skill.

@Agsjsgkahs
That’s a very good and clear example, thank you.

skill
/skɪl/
Learn to pronounce
noun
the ability to do something well; expertise.
"difficult work, taking great skill"

Cleaning is obviously a skill.

You say anyone can do it but its clear the vast majority of half the human species (men) do struggle and thats not for a lack of trying in my DPs case.

I dunno what it is. Do they have no nerves in their finger tips? Can they not feel a raised grease bump or the different pull off a cloth on clean vs dirty.

No idea. Its a mystery.

I work on a ward. Our cleaners keep the ward safe.

I think they are skilled. I'm terrible at cleaning. My mum comes up every now and then to help and when she leaves the place is spotless. She's so good at cleaning

I think ‘skilled’ means you need to have some kind of prolonged training to do it - not meaning some kind of one day induction. So no I don’t think it is skilled. Just like working in retail or as a waiter/waitress for example. Not saying those jobs shouldn’t be valued - but you don’t need training to do them, you can essentially hire anyone and train them within a day yourself if needed to do the job.

Thisisus909
I am shit at cleaning. If I cleaned for 20 hours my house would look tidier but definitely not shiny clean.

Cleaning and tidying are really two different things. If you worked out how much time you spent tidying I’m fairly sure that the time you spend doing that part would be far more than actually cleaning.

I work as a cleaner. My clients are (mostly!) amazed by how clean and fresh their houses are when I leave … and that’s because the entire time I’m there, I’m actually cleaning! I’m not getting sidetracked by paperwork, clutter and the million other things that I get distracted by when I clean my home. My house is clean enough, but definitely not as ‘polished’ as my clients!

Is it a skilled job? Yes and no. General domestic cleaning is something any able bodied person can do. Your effectiveness can, I feel, mostly be measured by 1. your experience (right products, correct application), 2. stamina (elbow grease IS required), 3. willingness to actually get on and do it and 4. a specific set of outcomes to achieve (no personal stuff to sort through along the way).

Commercial cleaning is rather different as there is an organisation named BICSc (British Institute of Cleaning Science) which does indeed involve training and assessments etc. www.bics.org.uk/

Carpet/floor cleaning is another specialised area, which you really DO need specific skills and training for. There are many more specialist areas, which have been mentioned by PP.

Sometimes, my sister and I will clean each others houses, and I am over the moon when I get home - as is she! Yes, we could both have achieved exactly the same result cleaning our own homes, but we aren’t sidetracked by our own clutter. We ignore all that, and actually CLEAN.

In short: domestic cleaning is, I believe, correctly described as unskilled work … but experience goes a very long way.

It is not skilled. I spent years training in my profession.
In fact I'm good at cleaning so I know I didn't.
A quick Google and I'm immediately better at cleaning whatever it is I wanted to clean. It does come under a life skill though but that's not what you meant.

The cleaners I've had are amazing though so I don't mean to deter from that fact.

Cleaners make the world go round. Seriously, where would we be without them?

Whilst they may officially be 'unskilled', a good cleaner is hard working, conscientious, thorough and has a wealth of knowledge. Qualities you won't always find in those who do 'better' jobs.

@Coffeemakesmehappy you sound exactly like what I need.

It might be unskilled though some have a natural flair and get organisational skills to leave a house gleaming.
I haven't got these qualities.