Kristín Heba Gísladóttir, Managing Director of Varða – the Labor Market Research Institute, writes.
In recent days, the working conditions of cleaning staff have been a topic of discussion following a news report by RÚV about wage agreement violations and poor working conditions. In the most recent collective agreements, special emphasis was placed on improving the conditions for cleaning staff, and this was not without reason.
What are the effects of increased job outsourcing?
In recent years and decades, there have been significant changes in the work environment for those employed in cleaning. Previously, cleaning was part of the tasks to be carried out within each workplace. Now, cleaning is increasingly outsourced, and thus, parts of the operations of companies and institutions have been contracted out to private entities. These major changes have occurred without pausing to assess their impact on the employees.
Women and Immigrants Fill the Cleaning Jobs
Varða – The Labor Market Research Institute surveyed the financial situation, health, and rights violations of those working in cleaning and published a report on the conditions of this group in 2023. The findings are interesting for various reasons. The composition of the cleaning staff is very different from what is generally seen. Cleaning is primarily done by women (74%) and immigrants (78%), and a significantly higher percentage of them have a different skin color than white (11%) compared to what is generally observed among wage earners in ASÍ and BSRB union member groups. These are all groups that Varða’s research has shown to be at a disadvantage.
Poor Financial Situation of Cleaning Staff
The financial situation of those working in cleaning is worse than that of other wage earners across all the indicators used in the survey. The results show, for example, that nearly one-fifth of cleaning staff live with material or severe material deprivation or poverty (18%), and only three out of ten could meet unexpected expenses of 80,000 ISK without going into debt. Half of those working in cleaning live in rental housing on the general rental market, which is a significantly higher percentage than the general wage-earning population (50% versus 18%). Varða’s research has shown that people who live in rental housing are more likely than those with their own property to have moved more than three times in the past five years (32% versus 5%), live in supplementary apartments, rooms, garages, commercial or retail properties, or other types of housing (30% versus 3%), and face a heavier burden of housing costs.
Nearly Half of the Cleaning Staff Experience Poor Mental Health
The health of cleaning staff is also reported as worse than that of other wage earners. A higher percentage of cleaning staff rate their physical health as very or somewhat poor (22% versus 15%), and their mental health is significantly worse. About one-third of cleaning staff experience fatigue and lack of energy almost daily (37%) and sleep problems (32%). A quarter of them feel little interest or joy in their daily life (23%) and have been feeling down or sad almost daily (25%). In fact, nearly half of those working in cleaning have poor mental health (46%).
The effort to correct the conditions of those working in cleaning in the most recent collective agreements raised hope that with a concerted effort, it would be possible to improve the status and working and living conditions of certain occupational groups. The news of recent days is, therefore, a significant disappointment, but hopefully, it will be a wake-up call for authorities and companies to work systematically to address the situation that the data shows this group is facing.
The article was originally published in Vinnan – Tímarit ASÍ on February 21, 2025.