Great Debate: The Privatization By: Aaron Baunee, managing editor Opinions abound as to the pros and cons of outsourcing custodial and maintenance functions. N Aaron Baunee is the manag-ing editor of Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. In his years with the publication, Baunee has amassed numerous articles, columns and commen-taries pertaining to commercial cleaning and maintenance. Baunee encourages readers to communicate editorial ideas to him and welcomes discussions on pertinent industry happenings. Connect through social media: LinkedIn.com/in/AaronBaunee, Facebook.com/CMMOnline and Twitter.com/CMeNewsDaily. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Outsourcing . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Contract Cleaning . No matter what the topic, price is always a decid-ing factor. In the JanSan industry, every decision affects the bottom line — be it company profits or opera-tional budgets. And, given the uncertain economic climate — many analysts claim we are progressing, while unemployment teeters around double digits — those in managerial roles are looking to save pre-cious dollars across the board. Because custodial and maintenance opera-tions are expected to function within their means — just imagine a supervisor demanding the ceil-ing of their operating expenses be raised so they can continue to operate with fiscal irresponsibility — concessions must be made. It is no secret that janitorial functions are the first on the chopping block when money is scarce. If you can open up a newspaper and not see a story or two about custodial and maintenance personnel being laid off or “voluntarily” opting for early retirement, I question whether or not your periodical is au courant. A Trend Toward Outsourcing There is no question that, over the last two or three years, there has been a stark increase in the number of organizations outsourcing services to building service contractors (BSCs). When the economy tightens, outsourcing is a common way to cut costs. Quite simply, though not in every instance, outsourcing services is far cheaper than keeping them in-house. “The benefits to outsourcing custodial and maintenance services are superior quality, effi-ciency, value and expertise,” claims Joia Aliperti, media specialist for Stratus Building Solutions. “It allows the organization to concentrate on their particular core business opportunities.” Because an in-house operation does not have to pay health benefits, retirement pensions, insur-ance premiums and things of the like, significant cost savings can be realized with privatization. In addition to the human resources aspects, a contractor is also responsible for product and equipment purchasing and maintenance and the training and education of its employees. All factors combined, operational budgets can be drastically reduced — sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year — by outsourcing some or all aspects of the operation. Some industries tend to utilize contractors more than others. Today, we are seeing more contracting in health care, education and government markets. Bill Griffin, president of Cleaning Consultant Services Inc., says, “If I had to guess, here’s where I put contractor penetration in the follow-14 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • August 2011
CMM – Archives Aug 2011: 14
