FEATURE
Recruitment, technology and sustainability on the agenda
All things being equal, we at the British Cleaning Council (BCC) would have expected a healthy 12 months for the cleaning sector, but there’s a major challenge facing the industry which could affect that forecast.
The cleaning sector, which includes a
wide range of activities such as facilities
management, landscape services and waste and resources management, is a major player in the UK’s economy. For years now it has posted strong growth, rapidly increasing turnover and impressive job creation, with the number of businesses which make up the sector multiplying, showing the strength of the demand for the services we offer.
In the long-term, we are confident our robust and innovative sector will continue to grow and thrive, but we are very worried that the huge impact of Government proposals to introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system from 2021 will be detrimental to our sector.
Our sector employs a relatively high proportion of foreign-born workers, and this percentage is even higher in certain parts of the country, such as London and the South East. The Government proposals not to give these lesser skilled, lower paid, overseas workers working visas could strangle our industry.
With the lowest UK unemployment for years, there is little chance that UK-born workers will be able to take up the slack and fill the vacancies, and this will have serious implications across the economy.
Health and safety will suffer through lower hygiene standards, because our cleaning staff have a vital role in all sectors, including healthcare and industries such as chemicals and manufacturing. It will hit the environment hard, not only because of the role of our colleagues in street cleaning, but also their part in managing waste/recycling. Cleaning
is also important to the success of many enterprises such as hotels and restaurants.
Cleaning businesses could shrink or close because of this labour shortage. Because of the sheer size and the number of people the sector employs this, in turn, will also affect the UK economy and damage growth.
We are demanding that the Government rethink their proposals and ensure the rules are flexible enough so potential future staff qualify for visas, allowing the cleaning sector to continue to thrive.
With technology constantly improving and becoming cheaper, this could be the breakthrough year when the highly competitive cleaning sector adopts these high-tech solutions wholesale to reduce costs, improve efficiency and make workers’ jobs easier.
Even if not, we can expect these trends to continue to advance over the next 12 months, increasing the emphasis on skills and training that will help cleaning staff understand and use these technologies.
“PQ This could be the year when
the cleaning sector adopts high-tech solutions wholesale to reduce costs”
This brings us onto another trend which will be hugely important in the immediate future.
The use of technology will continue to grow in the cleaning sector and could even be fuelled by this potential labour shortage, and whilst robotics and the internet of things are already in use, they will become more mainstream.
Manufacturers are finding more and varied ways in which these technologies can be applied in the cleaning sector and related industries. We have also seen an influx of innovative cleaning machines using smart technology to work more efficiency, and robot drones that can clean some tall buildings with large areas of glass windows.
6 | TOMORROW’S CLEANING PRODUCTS & SERVICES GUIDE 2020
Sustainability will continue to be a watchword. This issue has become so high-profile that it’s now relevant to every part of our industry. Customers and colleagues are increasingly asking about the green credentials of the businesses they buy from or work for, helping drive the transformation.
Chemicals are still commonly used in the cleaning sector: their containers are often plastic, and it isn’t always easy to recycle them, but this will have to change.
More and more companies and organisations are moving the subject of the environment further up their agendas, creating sustainable products and processes. As an example, Proctor and Gamble has committed to cut the use of virgin plastic by 50% by 2030, and Unilever plans to halve the amount of virgin plastic it uses over the next five years.
We can expect to see these trends strengthen during 2020/21, so if your company or organisation hasn’t already examined this issue with a view to making yourself more sustainable, then the next 12 months would be a good time to do it.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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