ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

The cleaning sector in France is facing difficulties due to economic slowdown, says Christian Bouzols.

The attractiveness of jobs in the various sectors has become a major issue for the French cleaning sector in 2024. “We’re faced with some difficulties”, says Patricia Charrier-Izel, director general of contract cleaning association FEP.

One difficulty is the fact that the higher-than-average age of cleaning workers is discouraging some young people who might be interested in becoming professional cleaners. All  eight cleaning training centres in the country have vacancies. Another difficulty is linked to a non-recognition of the fact that cleaning work can be technically demanding, for example in the health and nuclear sectors.

One way in which the FEP tried to make cleaning jobs more attractive was to launch a campaign on Instagram and TikTok. This was in response to the high level of demand from cleaning companies, six out of 10 of which were considering hiring more people in early 2023 - according to a Xerfi Specific survey for Monde de la Propreté.

“We’re among the business sectors that recruit the most,” says Charrier-Izel. Currently, cleaning gives work to 600,000 people in France - 115,000 more than 10 years ago. In 2022 the number of cleaners rose by 1.2 per cent, but the increases had been three per cent a year before the pandemic.

However, these fairly positive figures shouldn’t hide the fact the cleaning sector, whose profit margins are small, has suffered from the current economic slowdown. In 2002, the sector’s turnover registered a 2.7 per cent increase to €17.8 billion - that increase was one of the lowest during a 10-year period. This was partly due to many cleaning company failures, mainly among very small firms, explains Philippe Jouanny, vice-president of the FEP.

“Due to this economic contraction, several corporate clients have reduced their cleaning contracts,” adds Patricia Charrier-Izel. Office cleaning, which represents 36 per cent of turnover, has been hit hard, particularly in large urban areas. Jouanny explained: “Companies have reduced their office areas and many are closed on Fridays, so there is no longer work for our cleaners on that day. So we fear the advent of a four-day working week.”

Regarding the cleaning of buildings (30 per cent), building managers are reluctant to agree to increased cleaning costs and, when they do, they pass them on to occupants by inflating energy charges. Furthermore, buyers from the public sector (25 per cent) have been told to make savings.
Another difficulty stems from the fact some factories are now closing their establishments two days a week to save on energy costs, also reducing their need for cleaning. Even specialist contractors, such as those who clean up after the completion of building works, have been hit by a standstill in development.

It’s true that in some areas, such as old people’s homes, demand has increased, but generally the current economic downturn has hurt a sector whose profit margins have always been small (three per cent before the pandemic) and have gone down further. Its costs, which are essentially labour costs, have risen faster than turnover. According to the Xerfi survey, seven out of 10 cleaning companies have not managed to pass on more than 10 per cent of those increases to customers. The question is, how long can they carry on like this?