This complex communication campaign launched simultaneously on several platforms is dedicated to all target groups.

The Central Statistics Office examined 173 occupations, to discover how prestigious they are, based on different aspects: for example, how much power and influence it entails, how much one has to learn for it, how useful it is for society, and how attractive or fashionable the given occupation is today.

According to the subjective judgment of the respondents, the cleaner was placed amongst the ten lowest prestige occupations.

It came to the 163rd place, being only preceded by the street sweeper, garbage truck worker, leaflet distributor or auxiliary worker.

The usefulness of cleaners is therefore fundamentally underestimated by people, while order and cleanliness are very important principles for everyone.

For such a profession, being so low estimated socially, it is not enough that the employees are being recognized by their employers only.

“We have been planning to launch a campaign since last year that shines a light on the fact that cleaners do their work almost invisibly, even though what they do is essential to the functioning of our society.

The preparatory work lasted for many months, and by the time we were ready, the COVID-19 infection had reached Hungary as well.

If ever, nowadays it is more important than ever that social appreciation is due to the more than 45,000 professional cleaners who work in the country.

We employ 4,100 cleaners who are still cleaning vehicles, hospitals, and plenty of office buildings today, as they have done so far.

Their work is more important than ever, and they can’t stay home either.” – says Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi, the CEO of the company.

They are not even greeted by many

In the focus group research that preceded the launch of the campaign, it was shocking to hear that most of the cleaners interviewed already take it as a sign of appreciation if they are greeted at all because they are accustomed to the fact that most people just simply look straight through them as if they weren’t even there.

Although in their opinion on cleaners, members of the population group said that we would not be able to live our comfortable daily lives without their work, and even without them it would be downright chaotic, they still consider it one of the jobs they value the least.

Cleaning is a profession and serious physical work

B+N's own survey shows that cleaners in Hungary clean 56,000 km2 in 1 day, which means that in 2 days, they clean every square centimeter of Hungary, but for example, the ones employed by B+N clean a surface equivalent to 1 metro wide, 5000 km long pavement, which complies with the distance from Budapest to Madrid, there and back.

An office building cleaner performs 1,440 upper-body-bends in 8 hours if he only dusts the desks and has to do 9,600 circular movements in 8 hours if he cleans the windows.

These are just some of the data that numerically prove the physical nature and amount of work cleaners do.

However, physical activity is not everything, they need to know when to use and what type of chemicals and disinfectants, and they also need to be familiar with the most modern cleaning machines.

„With the campaign, we would like to show that without the work of cleaners, our world would not be as comfortable and convenient as we are used to it. Our goal is to make people recognize that this work is valuable and that the people who do it are valuable too.

It is our responsibility to drive awareness and appreciation to this profession, to stand up for all cleaners and all the people in the cleaning profession in the country, because if it stays that way it stands at the moment, there will soon be no one to clean up the country.” – explains Erika Kókai, the marketing director of B+N Reference Company.

This complex communication campaign will be available on television, print and online, as well as on social media across the country in the coming period.

B+N Referencia Zrt. provides technical operation, cleaning and gardening services on more than 5 million square metres, on more than 2,600 sites and currently employs more than 6,000 people nationwide. It is one of the largest facilities management company in Hungary.

Click here to visit the campaign page online

Text proofread by Szilvia Molnár, a professional freelance writer, travel expert, mom of two, and admitted coffee addict. Though not necessarily in that order. Connect with her on LinkedIn or read about her latest travel experiences on the Exploration Lounge website.