Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks (RNP) acknowledges that due to a labor shortage, the rules of the game have changed significantly. The head of the company, Maris Ozoliņš, shattered stereotypes and revealed the real salaries of the capital's janitors.
As acknowledged by the chairman of the board of RNP, Maris Ozoliņš, in an interview with the LETA agency, the stereotype that the work of a janitor is exclusively low-paid and unpromising is outdated. Today, incomes in this field directly depend on productivity and the volume of work performed. If an employee receives a basic rate under minimal load, experienced and highly efficient workers willing to take on larger areas can earn a gross salary of up to 1700–1800 euros per month at RNP. Such income allows them to compete with the average salary in many commercial sectors of the capital.
However, the enterprise faces objective difficulties, the main one being the gradual aging of the workforce. It is becoming increasingly challenging to find people for hard physical labor, and controlling the quality of work by individual employees at scattered locations is not easy. For this reason, RNP is gradually transitioning Riga's courtyards to a team-based service method. Currently, mobile teams clean about 40% of indoor spaces and up to 30% of adjacent areas.
The team approach has obvious advantages: mobile groups are equipped with modern and expensive equipment that cannot be issued to each individual janitor. This allows for faster cleaning, and for the residents of apartment buildings, this option is cheaper.
Despite the economic benefits of the new format, RNP does not plan to completely eliminate the institution of classic janitors. The management understands that many Riga residents have become accustomed to their 'own' person in the courtyard, whom they know personally, who is always present, and who remembers the specifics of a particular building well. The final decision is left to the apartment owners themselves — if residents want to keep their familiar janitor and are willing to pay a little more for the service, the enterprise is always willing to accommodate.
