New Zealand’s Cleaning industry is growing sharply but more needs to be done to protect cleaners from exploitation and low incomes. 

A call to consider legislation similar to that in Australia is among the key findings of Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Needs of Cleaning Industry Workforce, a report into the $1.6-billion cleaning industry released by Ringa Hora Services Workforce Development Council and presented at Parliament on December 2. 

The report is the first major study of the state of the Cleaning industry since 2014. The number of cleaning businesses has gone up from 4,788 in March 2014 to 7,782 in 2024, an increase of 63 percent – a higher rate than for businesses as a whole.  

Two-thirds of these businesses had zero employees – in other words, the work was either done by owner-operators or by casual workers who collectively work less than one full-time equivalent job. The number of workers in the sector grew 18.7 percent between 2014 and 2024 to about 52,700. 

Though the industry provided many opportunities for people to run their own franchise or business, economic pressures in many cases had caused challenges in obtaining an adequate income. 

“This can drive down prices to the point where some cleaners are effectively working for less than minimum wage, particularly owner-operators who are paying themselves dividends based on their profits,” the report says. 

As a result, only about half of the businesses with 0 FTE staff had avoided making a loss. 

There has been media coverage about the negative impact of franchises on the industry, but the report questioned whether the issue was more around bad practice, noting that franchising offered people opportunities to own their own businesses with support, brand recognition and reduced entry barriers. 

“Franchising in itself isn’t good or bad, instead it offers a different business model, which gives people choices depending on their different motivations around what they want from work,” the report says. 

“However, … in the worst cases, people are receiving cleaning contracts that give them effective earnings well below minimum wage, are given far less work than they expected and are tied to punitive agreements. 

“The practices of these operators … impact the entire industry by both damaging public perception and undercutting pricing of businesses that are meeting legal obligations and operating in an ethical manner. 

The report calls on industry representatives to work with Government to identify and prosecute rogue operators and to adopt legislation similar to that in Australia which regulates franchises and which deals with unfair contracts. 

“This report underscores critical trends that continue to challenge our industry. When approximately 80 percent of a cleaning contract’s value is attributed to labour, it raises serious questions about how any provider can offer prices 30–40 percent lower and still deliver the same quality outcomes,” says Sarah McBride, Chief Executive of the Building Service Contractors of New Zealand, the peak representative body for the commercial cleaning sector..  

“Ultimately, it is the cleaner who bears the cost — either through pay rates falling below minimum wage entitlements or through reduced working hours, directly impacting their income.” 

Other recommendations include: 

• A greater emphasis on lifting industry standards through qualifications, data and a voluntary accountability framework 

• Encouraging better procurement practices 

• More publicity to improve the perceptions of cleaners 

• Wrap-around support for people starting independent cleaning businesses. 

The report also looks at other challenges faced by the industry, including technology integration, post-pandemic cleaning expectations, smart buildings, location tracking and oversight, and an increased focus on sustainability. 

Ringa Hora chief executive Kari Scrimshaw says the report provides some solid data from which the industry can build on. 

“The Cleaning industry is vital to New Zealand and contributes significantly to GDP both directly, and as an important part of healthcare, hospitality, tourism and many other industries,” she says. 

“However, the vital work cleaners do often goes unseen and unrecognised. The findings and recommendations in this report can go a long way to enable the Cleaning industry to respond to current challenges and ensure a vibrant future.” 

The full report can be found on this web page.