Outsourcing global Recruitment HR Business finance concept.

Contributed by AFFLINK

Over the years, facility managers have gone back and forth regarding outsourcing cleaning and janitorial services to private contractors.They outsource these services for a while and then bring them back in-house. Then, a few years later, they go back to outsourcing.

However, a study released by Statista and published in April 2022, indicates things have stabilized, at least for now.

In 2021, the study discovered that 46 percent of the managers said that they do not outsource cleaning and maintenance and that “outsourcing is not an option” for them. By 2022, 40 percent reported outsourcing was not an option.

The study involved 414 facility managers throughout the United States. The central question asked of the facility managers was the following: Has your facility/institution outsourced your cleaning/ janitorial services in the last five years?

Here are some of the other results of the study:

• Nineteen percent said that in 2021 they were considering outsourcing cleaning. The same number was reported in 2022.

• In 2021, 5 percent reported they outsourced all cleaning and maintenance. By 2022, that had gone up slightly to 8 percent.

• In 2021, 3 percent of those that outsourced all cleaning brought it back in-house. In 2022, 4 percent returned to in-house cleaning.

• Finally, in 2021, 26 percent reported they outsourced a portion of their cleaning and maintenance needs; by 2022, that number was up to 29 percent.

 

“There are many factors at play here,” says Michael Wilson, vice president of marketing for AFFLINK, a leading sales and marketing organization for jan/san distributors throughout the country. And a lot of it is due to the pandemic.”

In the past, facility managers often changed from outsourcing to in-house cleaning to determine which was most cost-effective.

“Now, with office vacancies high, managers are unsure how many cleaning workers they need and how much to spend on cleaning,” says Wilson. “Outsourcing gives them more flexibility.”

He adds that this is why attendees and exhibitors at the ISSA Show should expect to see more facility managers at the show.

“It’s their opportunity to stay up to date with the latest in cleaning technologies.”