Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
37-2012.00
Bright Outlook Updated 2024

Perform any combination of light cleaning duties to maintain private households or commercial establishments, such as hotels and hospitals, in a clean and orderly manner. Duties may include making beds, replenishing linens, cleaning rooms and halls, and vacuuming.

Sample of reported job titles: Chambermaid, Cleaner, Cottage Attendant, Environmental Services Aide, Environmental Services Worker, Guest Room Attendant (GRA), Housekeeper, Housekeeping Laundry Worker, Room Cleaner

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Keep storage areas and carts well-stocked, clean, and tidy.
  • Carry linens, towels, toilet items, and cleaning supplies, using wheeled carts.
  • Clean rooms, hallways, lobbies, lounges, restrooms, corridors, elevators, stairways, locker rooms, and other work areas so that health standards are met.
  • Empty wastebaskets, empty and clean ashtrays, and transport other trash and waste to disposal areas.
  • Sweep, scrub, wax, or polish floors, using brooms, mops, or powered scrubbing and waxing machines.
  • Replenish supplies, such as drinking glasses, linens, writing supplies, and bathroom items.
  • Clean rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and draperies, using vacuum cleaners and shampooers.
  • Wash windows, walls, ceilings, and woodwork, waxing and polishing as necessary.
  • Dust and polish furniture and equipment.
  • Disinfect equipment and supplies, using germicides or steam-operated sterilizers.
  • Observe precautions required to protect hotel and guest property and report damage, theft, and found articles to supervisors.
  • Sort, count, and mark clean linens and store them in linen closets.
  • Sort clothing and other articles, load washing machines, and iron and fold dried items.
  • Move and arrange furniture and turn mattresses.
  • Replace light bulbs.
  • Deliver television sets, ironing boards, baby cribs, and rollaway beds to guests' rooms.
  • Hang draperies and dust window blinds.
  • Request repair services and wait for repair workers to arrive.
  • Prepare rooms for meetings and arrange decorations, media equipment, and furniture for social or business functions.
  • Polish silver accessories and metalwork, such as fixtures and fittings.
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Technology Skills

Hot technology
Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.

Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • 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.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • 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.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Spend Time Standing — 84% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 82% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body — 70% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Spend Time Walking and Running — 72% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 72% responded “Every day.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 82% responded “Every day.”
  • Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 70% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 63% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Time Pressure — 53% responded “Every day.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 34% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Contact With Others — 37% responded “Contact with others most of the time.”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 57% responded “Every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 38% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling — 30% responded “More than half the time.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 34% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Deal With External Customers — 36% responded “Important.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 29% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 30% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Physical Proximity — 39% responded “I work with others but not closely (e.g., private office).”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed
Education
Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Related Experience
Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations involve following instructions and helping others. Examples include agricultural equipment operators, dishwashers, floor sanders and finishers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, logging equipment operators, baristas, and maids and housekeeping cleaners.
SVP Range
(Below 4.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
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State licenses

Apprenticeship Opportunities

Example apprenticeship titles for this occupation:

  • Housekeeper, Com, Res, Ind

Specific title(s) listed above are vetted by industry and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for use in a Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Start your career and build your skillset. Visit Apprenticeship.gov to learn about opportunities related to this occupation.

Worker Requirements

Skills

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.
  • 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.

Education

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

  • 45%
     
    Less than high school diploma required
  • 36%
     
    High school diploma or equivalent required
  • 7%
     
    Post-secondary certificate required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Trunk Strength — The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Extent Flexibility — The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Stamina — The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.

Interests

Interest code: RC
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
  • Realistic — Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Work Values

  • Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • 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.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Work Styles

  • 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.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • 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.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • 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 (2023)
$16.08 hourly, $33,450 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2023)
1,335,500 employees
Projected growth (2023-2033)
Slower than average (1% to 2%)
Projected job openings (2023-2033)
190,600
State trends
Top industries (2023)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 wage data and 2023-2033 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2023-2033). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Professional Associations

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National Associations
Accreditation, Certification, & Unions