feature commercial cleaning
Pandemic is a golden opportunity for commercial cleaning to shape its future In this article by the owner of a US digital marketing agency specialising in the commercial cleaning and facility services sector, Jonathan Rockett shares findings of an international survey he conducted among close to 100 commercial cleaning companies. As Rockett watched the pandemic unfold into the world-changing event that nobody saw coming, he wanted to learn how it affected his clients and how best he could assist in helping them achieve continued growth to thrive in a post-pandemic world.
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he COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected us. It has impacted the global economy and, honestly, our very psyche in ways we are still discovering. Many businesses have been devastated by the pandemic. In contrast, a few have thrived because of it. Still, others are experiencing a shake-up and a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to reinvent and redefine themselves.
golden opportunity to shape its own future like never before in its history. I’ve seen a few articles speculating on a coming boom in the commercial cleaning industry. Still, I wanted to go straight to the source, behind the lines, and hear first-hand from cleaning companies how COVID-19 is impacting them. I wanted to know more about their thoughts on the future of the industry.
For this study, I surveyed close to 100 commercial cleaning companies, from over a dozen countries, across five continents. I conducted Zoom interviews with more than 20 of them, ranging in size from small mom-and-pop operations with fewer than five employees to large multinational companies and franchises operating in several countries. I learned a lot.
While commercial cleaning has certainly seen obstacles over the period of the pandemic, it has also been given a golden opportunity to shape its own future like never before in its history. Perhaps more than any other, the US$60 billion commercial cleaning industry is experiencing one of those shake-ups, and it is shining a new spotlight on cleaning’s role as a crucial piece of the infrastructure and backbone of the global economy. While commercial cleaning has certainly seen obstacles over the period of the pandemic, it has also been given a
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African Cleaning Review January/February 2022
I have to say, I was truly touched and impressed by the openness, enthusiasm and transparency of the cleaning professionals I spoke with, and the genuine attitude of teamwork, solidarity and adaptation within the industry. After going through this process, I’m prouder than ever to call myself part of the commercial cleaning community.
The impact In March 2020, commercial cleaning crews found themselves thrust from their position as a silent service in the background into the dangerous role of front-line, essential workers – virtually overnight. As Martin Nyokolodi, owner of Mbuti Solutions in South Africa, expressed over a spotty internet video connection,
