Business & Tech
FL Housekeepers Racking Up $100K+ Amid Surge In Demand: Reports
One West Palm Beach housekeeper told a news outlet that she earned $161,000 while working for a hospitality mogul, who gifted her a Tesla.
FLORIDA — Housekeepers in Palm Beach South Florida are not only seeing an increase in demand for their skills, but some of them are experiencing a swell in their paychecks into six figures, per a CNBC report.
Salaries have grown as high as $150,000 for the longtime profession, with modern-day housekeepers earning as much as $45 or $50 per hour, the news outlet reported, citing staffing agencies.
"I have been placing staff for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this," April Berube, The Wellington Agency founder told CNBC. "We've seen such a boom from people relocating, especially Palm Beach and Miami."
Find out what's happening in West Palm Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A factor in the skyrocketed pay lies in the scarcity of housekeepers, leading South Florida's wealthy homeowners to enter a bidding war for cleaners, CNBC reported.
Melissa Psitos of staffing company Lily Pond Services told The New York Post the uptick came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply put, Psitos said those in Florida's high-end community are willing to pay for the best.
Find out what's happening in West Palm Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“If you have a home that’s worth $100 million, that’s an investment,” Psitos told the New York Post. “They want smart people managing them. These are people who can manage working with high end marble surfaces, and they’re not going to ruin your imported carpet from Italy. They’re used to working in high-end homes.”
Housekeepers are not only racking up dollars - they are also holding on to the well-kept secrets of the homeowners for which they work.
“We hear everything,” Ana, a housekeeper from West Palm Beach told The New York Post. “Affairs, money, divorces. We know them better than even their best friends know them. I don’t think they even know how much we know.”
She told the news outlet she learned to keep secrets after telling her former Miami Beach supervisor that she saw the woman's husband with another woman.
Ana said she made $161,000 while working for a hospitality mogul, who gifted her a Tesla to use for errands.
Read more via CNBC and The New York Post.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
