A Skills Gap Is Turning Cleaning for the Rich Into a $100,000 Job
As the wealthy get wealthier and fuel a boom in luxury furnishings, highly trained household staff are in high demand.
Illustration: Isabella Cotier for Bloomberg
Gina began her career as a housekeeper in the homes of the merely well-to-do. Today, after 26 years climbing the ladder of domestic service, she works in the San Francisco Bay Area as an executive housekeeper for ultra-high-net-worth families.
“It’s a lot of levels of cleaning that I’ve done to get where I am right now,” says Gina, who asked to be identified only by her first name because of the sensitivity of her position. “You’ve got to know about art. You’ve got to know about antiques. There’s a lot of custom pieces, and of course they’re not replaceable.”