Madison Troyer
3 min read
Gina began her career as a house cleaner nearly three decades ago, tidying up the homes of San Francisco’s middle class. Now, she works as an executive housekeeper for some of the Bay Area’s wealthiest families.
“It’s a lot of levels of cleaning that I’ve done to get where I am right now,” she told Bloomberg. “You’ve got to know about art. You’ve got to know about antiques. There’s a lot of custom pieces, and of course they’re not replaceable.”
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Gina is one of a growing number of highly specialized housekeepers working for America’s ultra-high-net-worth families. As fortunes boom, these elite homeowners are splashing out on luxury homewares with prices that classify them more as art than pieces of furniture.
“High-end houses have crazy prices in almost everything,” Gina said. “I just research everything before I even touch anything.”
Charles MacPherson, who runs an eponymous staffing agency in Toronto, told Bloomberg that he’s seen requests for housekeepers who have experience caring for luxury and contemporary designs skyrocket over the last few years.
“The demand has increased for people who actually know what they’re doing,” he said.
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It’s not a demand that’s been particularly easy to meet, either.
“Not anybody can clean, and cleaning is not for just stupid people who can’t get a job,” MacPherson told Bloomberg. “Cleaning correctly is actually a skill that has to be taught and learned, and it’s actually a serious job.”
As a result, salaries for high-end housekeepers are growing. Before COVID, a knowledgeable, well-trained housekeeper could expect to earn around $60,000, MacPherson said. Now, they’re frequently being offered salaries of $100,000 or more, plus full benefits.
“Rich people are richer, and they’re buying more delicate things,” he told Bloomberg. “They want their homes to be more museum-quality, versus just normal stuff. And then there’s a lack of supply of trained people. You put those two together — it’s supply and demand — and salaries go through the roof.”
Hiring an inexperienced housekeeper can often have devastating consequences for the ultra-wealthy.
