Many jobs are available in the cleaning industry

The cleaning services industry presents opportunities for unemployed youth as the class of 2019 wrap up their high school years, some will proceed to higher education institutions, while others will not make it.

There are matriculants from as far back as five years who are still sitting at home; they could not proceed into higher learning institutions for a number of social and economic reasons.

The country’s unemployment rate continues to increase, with unemployment currently at 29.1 per cent and the burden of unemployment mostly concentrated among the youth aged 15 to 34 years, accounting for 63.4 per cent of the total number of unemployed persons according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

“There is a need to explore opportunities in which to absorb these young people into the work environment. The cleaning industry is one of the country’s highest employers and presents opportunities of entry into the workplace for young people,” said Cathy Viriri, Servest national operations director in its cleaning division.

“Greater efforts must be made to get young people more involved in this space because all they need is a stepping stone, thereafter they can work towards upskilling to get into their ideal jobs.”

The Contract Cleaning Industry shows that there are over 1 500 contract cleaning companies across South Africa, employing more than 100 000 people.

“One of the biggest challenges that the country faces is that young people perceive cleaning as a low-level job and ‘uncool’, but what they need to be looking at is the prospect of what they could become within these roles, instead of where they start. If we can achieve that mindset more could be done in bringing down the high unemployment rate among young people,” said Viriri.

She explains that the minimum entry requirement to become a cleaner is a matric certificate, thereafter most reputable companies provide on-the-job training in line with industry practices to enable entrants to perform their duties and understand the Standard Operating Procedures. They receive various site-specific training where applicable, as well as health and safety training.

She notes that the cleaning industry is a developing industry expected to impact the country’s economy, as cleaning functions provide a wide range of activities that include both automation and human aid.

“There are opportunities for growth as well in this space, including specialisation, especially in specialised industry sectors where cleaners can upskill to become a specialist cleaner, like in mining, health care and manufacturing. While working, they can explore growth, continuous learning and upskilling opportunities.

“There are also opportunities for on-the-job training and exposure to other business functions, such as finance and administration, supervisory roles, quality control, and so on. We need to move beyond the perceptions around jobs such as cleaning, security services the sort of jobs that young people perceive as low-level jobs and create awareness and highlight the opportunities that exist within these jobs,” she said.

However, South Africa remains very labour intensive, and while these innovations are coming, the idea is to get young people involved and upskill them to prepare them for future tech functions.

She said: “As deep concerns remain around the high unemployment among youth, employers must work together with the government to resolve some of the challenges the country continues to grapple with. They must continue in driving training and developing.