The professional cleaning industry in India is a significant and rapidly expanding market, currently valued at USD 5 billion with an annual growth rate of 15-20%. Within an organization’s overall budget, FM represents the second-largest expenditure after personnel costs. Notably, cleaning services alone account for up to 30% of the total FM budget. Kumud Bharti, Director, IFM, Global Client Operations and Harish Kumar B, Senior Analyst, JLL, have highlighted the need to address growing resource availability concerns and evolving labour dynamics within India’s cleaning industry, in a comprehensive report released recently. Excerpts:
An extensive research study covers 237 sites and a staggering 57.34 million sqft from JLL’s top 20 revenue-generating clients in India and provides crucial insights for organizations seeking to improve efficiency and reduce operational expenditures.
The initiative aims to present key trends and patterns in cleaning practices and performance metrics, offering stakeholders a comprehensive overview of current standards and outcomes. By facilitating knowledge sharing across the industry, it encourages the exchange of best practices and insights that can drive improvements.
The findings will enable data-driven discussions on cleaning strategies, resource allocation, and operational effectiveness, allowing for informed decision-making. Additionally, the analysis seeks to identify potential areas for optimisation or further investigation, serving as a foundation for targeted improvements. Rather than making definitive judgments on existing practices, the initiative supports strategic planning by highlighting opportunities and encouraging continuous enhancement in cleaning operations.
The study establishes a JLL baseline and industry benchmark for cleaning productivity at 5,000sqft per janitor per eight hours. The findings reveal varied performance across different segments.
1) Overall Productivity Landscape:
The average cleaning productivity across all surveyed sites is 6,414sqft per janitor per day, with a median of 4,939sqft per janitor per day. Encouragingly, 58% of the sites are operating above the 5,000sqft per janitor per day benchmark.
2) Impact of Site Size on Productivity:
o Very Large Sites (> 400K sqft): 31% of these sites fall below the JLL/Industry baseline.
o Large Sites (200K-400K sqft): 43% of these sites are below the JLL/Industry baseline.
o Medium Sites (50K-200Ksqft): A significant 51% of these sites operate below the JLL/Industry baseline. The study analysed 176 very large, large, and medium sites in this segment.
3) Occupancy and Productivity Dynamics:
o High Occupancy Sites (61% and above): These sites exhibit an average productivity of 6,224sqft per janitor per day, with a median of 5,030sqft per janitor per day. Productivity in this segment ranges widely from 3,084sqft to 17,131sqft per janitor.
o Low Occupancy Sites (01-30%): A notable increase in productivity is observed here, with an average of 9,746sqft per janitor per day and a median of 5,970sqft per janitor per day. The productivity range in this category is from 2,347sqft to 26,267sqft per janitor. The report attributes very high night productivity at some sites to low occupancy. Interestingly, 62% of Technology sites with low occupancy are operating below the 5,000sqft per janitor benchmark. The study suggests an opportunity for a deep dive into labour distribution to increase efficiency.
4) Industry-Specific Productivity Trends:
o Financial Institutions: This segment consistently demonstrates the lowest efficiencies, with 83% of sites performing below the JLL/Industry baseline. This trend is attributed to the high emphasis on user experience and client expectations. The report highlights a strong potential for adopting IoT and robotics in this segment to improve productivity.
o Technology: With an average productivity of 7,856sqft per janitor per day and a median of 7,456sqft per janitor per day, technology sites show promising performance. A key insight is that a few technology sites operate at 52% higher productivity than their peers, largely due to their adoption of a daytime cleaning model.
o Manufacturing: This sector shows an average productivity of 7,625sqft per janitor per day, with a median of 5,549sqft per janitor per day.
o Professional Services: 23% of sites in this category are below the JLL/Industry baseline.
o Telecom: This segment shows the lowest percentage of sites below baseline, at 14%.
o Energy/Chemicals: All sites (100%) in this segment are below the JLL/Industry baseline.
Insights and Recommendations:
1) Labour Distribution: A significant 82% of sites distribute cleaning labour with a day-to-night ratio equal to or higher than 2:1.
2) Day Cleaning vs. Night Cleaning: A notable finding is that 39% of sites demonstrate higher efficiency by implementing a “daytime maintain + clean” model compared to the traditional “night clean” model.
3) Supervision’s Role: Contrary to common assumptions, the study found no direct correlation between higher supervision levels and increased productivity.
4) Wage Impact: While increased wages have proven effective in retaining staff, they have not directly boosted productivity or reduced absenteeism.
5) Efficiency Opportunities: The Financial segment and certain Technology clients present scope for efficiency improvements. Contract savings commitments are also pushing accounts to deliver higher productivity through rationalization measures.
6) Occupancy vs. Productivity: Data trend analysis indicates that productivity generally decreases as occupancy increases and vice versa.
The findings offer a valuable tool for strategic decision-making in facility management, highlighting areas for improvement and provide a clear roadmap for achieving operational excellence.
By leveraging these insights, organisations can make informed decisions about their FM strategies, leading to significant cost savings and enhanced workplace experiences for their employees.
Cleaning Productivity Benchmarks
| Category | Segment/Sub-category | % of Sites Below JLL/Industry Baseline |
| By Site Size | Very Large Sites (> 400K sqft) | 31% |
| Large Sites (200K–400K sqft) | 43% | |
| Medium Sites (50K–200K sqft) | 51% | |
| Overall (across sizes) | All Sites (Very Large, Large, Medium) | 49% |
| By Occupancy | Large Sites | 31% |
| Medium Sites | 31% | |
| By Industry Segment | Technology | 38% |
| Financial Institutions | 83% | |
| Manufacturing | 40% | |
| Energy / Chemicals | 100% | |
| Professional Services | 23% | |
| Telecom | 14% |