First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers
37-1011.00
Updated 2022

Directly supervise and coordinate work activities of cleaning personnel in hotels, hospitals, offices, and other establishments.

Sample of reported job titles: Building Services Supervisor, Buildings and Grounds Supervisor, Custodian Supervisor, Environmental Services Supervisor (EVS), Executive Housekeeper, Housekeeping Supervisor, Janitorial Supervisor, Laundry Supervisor, Maintenance Supervisor

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Supervise in-house services, such as laundries, maintenance and repair, dry cleaning, or valet services.
  • Select the most suitable cleaning materials for different types of linens, furniture, flooring, and surfaces.
  • Advise managers, desk clerks, or admitting personnel of rooms ready for occupancy.
  • Inspect work performed to ensure that it meets specifications and established standards.
  • Perform or assist with cleaning duties as necessary.
  • Plan and prepare employee work schedules.
  • Establish and implement operational standards and procedures for the departments supervised.
  • Inspect and evaluate the physical condition of facilities to determine the type of work required.
  • Inventory stock to ensure that supplies and equipment are available in adequate amounts.
  • Issue supplies and equipment to workers.
  • Forecast necessary levels of staffing and stock at different times to facilitate effective scheduling and ordering.
  • Check and maintain equipment to ensure that it is in working order.
  • Maintain required records of work hours, budgets, payrolls, and other information.
  • Direct activities for stopping the spread of infections in facilities, such as hospitals.
  • Recommend or arrange for additional services, such as painting, repair work, renovations, and the replacement of furnishings and equipment.
  • Coordinate activities with other departments to ensure that services are provided in an efficient and timely manner.
  • Investigate complaints about service and equipment, and take corrective action.
  • Instruct staff in work policies and procedures, and the use and maintenance of equipment.
  • Select and order or purchase new equipment, supplies, or furnishings.
  • Prepare reports on activity, personnel, and information, such as occupancy, hours worked, facility usage, work performed, and departmental expenses.
  • Confer with staff to resolve performance and personnel problems, and to discuss company policies.
  • Evaluate employee performance and recommend personnel actions, such as promotions, transfers, and dismissals.
  • Recommend changes that could improve service and increase operational efficiency.
  • Perform financial tasks, such as estimating costs and preparing and managing budgets.
  • Screen job applicants, and hire new employees.
  • Perform grounds maintenance tasks, such as removing snow and mowing the lawn.
Find occupations related to multiple tasks

Technology Skills

Hot technology Hot Technologies are requirements frequently included in employer job postings.

Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Staffing Organizational Units — Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Providing Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment — Servicing, repairing, calibrating, regulating, fine-tuning, or testing machines, devices, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of electrical or electronic (not mechanical) principles.

Detailed Work Activities

Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities

Work Context

  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 84% responded “Every day.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 65% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Electronic Mail — 78% responded “Every day.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 77% responded “Every day.”
  • Telephone — 76% responded “Every day.”
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 66% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Contact With Others — 65% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Time Pressure — 58% responded “Every day.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 53% responded “High responsibility.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others — 46% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 37% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 54% responded “Important results.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 55% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Standing — 33% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 30% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Spend Time Walking and Running — 34% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 51% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable — 39% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 37% responded “Important.”
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 45% responded “Every day.”
  • Exposed to Hazardous Conditions — 39% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 36% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 32% responded “Less than half the time.”
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations — 29% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body — 42% responded “Less than half the time.”
  • Deal With External Customers — 42% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Letters and Memos — 32% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Physical Proximity — 37% responded “Slightly close (e.g., shared office).”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 68% responded “40 hours.”
  • Level of Competition — 50% responded “Moderately competitive.”
  • Public Speaking — 35% responded “Never.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Related Experience
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include orderlies, counter and rental clerks, customer service representatives, security guards, upholsterers, tellers, and dental laboratory technicians.
SVP Range
3 months to 1 year of preparation (4.0 to < 6.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
Find certifications nationwide
State licenses
Apprenticeships
Have a career path or location in mind? Visit Apprenticeship.gov to find apprenticeship opportunities near you.

Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
  • Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Quality Control Analysis — Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Knowledge

  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 43%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 19%
     
    Some college, no degree required
  • 14%
     
    Associate’s degree required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Far Vision — The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Interests

Interest code: ECR
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
  • Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
  • Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
  • Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Work Values

  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
  • Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
  • Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

Work Styles

  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wages (2021)
$19.05 hourly, $39,630 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2020)
225,500 employees
Projected growth (2020-2030)
Average (5% to 10%)
Projected job openings (2020-2030)
27,300
State trends
Top industries (2020)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 wage data and 2020-2030 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2020-2030). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Sources of Additional Information

Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.