The salary of a cleaner is shocking in the United States. The annual income is 1.82 million, which is comparable to Silicon Valley software engineer.
In my impression, it is difficult to equate a cleaner with a high salary. Today we are going to talk about how he got his annual salary of 1.82 million?
The Amazing Story of the Chinese Cleaner
Let’s first take a look at the amazing story of this Chinese cleaner. This cleaner is named Liang Zhao Zhang (transliteration) and is responsible for cleaning at subway stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.
A non-profit organization called "Transparent California" has released the annual income report of employees in California local government systems.
According to data, Zhang Liangchao’s basic salary is US$57,900 (approximately RMB 390,000), and overtime pay is US$162,000 (approximately RMB 1.09 million). Together with other allowances, his total annual salary exceeds US$270,000. . That's five times the national average salary. And Mr. Zhang’s income is more than that. In the past three years, he earned a total of US$682,000. In other words, his annual salary is 6 figures.
As soon as the data came out, foreign media were shocked!
They all came to report on this high-paid cleaner:
San Francisco Subway cleaners, not counting overtime, have an average annual salary of US$77,700 (approximately RMB 524,000). , which is considered high among cleaners in the United States and is more than three times the average salary of cleaners.
Why can he earn an income that far exceeds the average salary? Everyone is curious about how he does it.
A spokesman for the subway station said: "We attach great importance to the cleanliness of the station. If the cleaning work is not done well, the station will become very dirty.", "The wages given by the subway station are directly proportional to the quality of the employees' work. If you pay more, they will be more responsible."
In addition, the subway system has a heavy workload and insufficient manpower. Whenever other employees are on vacation or sick, or when there are large-scale events, overtime must be arranged. Last year, the total overtime expenditures at subway stations exceeded US$400 million, but this was lower than the cost of recruiting additional employees, so subways have adopted an overtime system as much as possible.
Because he often works overtime, Zhang Liangchao has received a six-digit salary for three consecutive years. In addition to Zhang, there were four other cleaners at the subway station last year (all of them guessed from their names to be Chinese) who also received huge overtime pay. A spokesman for
also said: "Zhang Liangchao deserves his high salary. He is an overtime maniac. Last year, he worked an average of 114 hours a week, which is equivalent to 16 hours a day, all year round. This employee reported to Every time he signs up for overtime work, he cleans the site almost every day."
Why can he earn such a high salary?
First of all, he has the traditional hard-working nature of the Chinese people. Eight hours is the limit for a normal person, but Zhang Liangchao works twice as many hours as others, and it is difficult to work in such a way.
Secondly, the treatment of cleaners in sanitation stations in cities in the United States is the same as that of civil servants. If they work overtime, they can receive overtime pay, as well as medical benefits and pensions.
Although the salary is good, it is not easy to be a cleaner. In big cities in the United States, tens of thousands of people take the recruitment exam for cleaning staff every year, but less than 1,000 people are admitted. The employment difficulties are also unimaginable.
The Risks of Cleaning
To be sure, for people without an educational background, cleaning is a job with the opportunity to exchange for a comfortable life. In Zhang Liangchao's words, this job is characterized by far more danger and fatigue than expected.
Basically, cleaners have to wear reflective vests while working to avoid being hit by other vehicles. Additionally, you should wear protective glasses and gloves because you don't know what's in the next bag of trash or if there's a possibility of a spill that could harm you. Evil maggots appear frequently.
He spent every night with heavy, smelly garbage. To him, the disgusting sight of dead fish and rotting flesh was normal. There were a lot of strange things in the dumpster, and he even found a broken human leg.
Although the work is very hard, he is very happy because he once felt desperate because he could not find a job. Generally, cleaners earn more than $100,000. Even college graduates may not have such a salary.
In the past ten years, his boss appreciated his good work attitude and gave him eight salary increases. In fact, it is normal for cleaners to get a raise. Since the end of the recession in 2009, janitor wages have increased by nearly 20%. Much higher than the average of other industries.
Although cleaners working for the government are well paid, they must risk injury or even death if they want to earn a living. Garbage collectors are statistically one of the five most dangerous jobs in the United States. The risk of injury and death is even higher than for police and miners.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, on average, 34 cleaners out of every 100,000 may be fatally injured, and more than 6,000 people will be injured on the job every year. The risks encountered by cleaners are related to the contents of the waste. They are often cut by broken glass or come into contact with toxic materials packaged in garbage bags.
They also often encounter traffic accidents. Many cleaners work late into the night and can be hit by "careless drivers" while collecting rubbish. In addition, injuries can also result from mechanical failure when operating garbage trucks and other heavy machinery.
In addition to the above-mentioned accidents, Zhang also suffered from occupational injuries. He said janitors were carrying heavy loads every day. Many people have knee and lower back problems as they age. The COVID-19 epidemic has exacerbated their work risks. They may have been infected with the novel coronavirus while picking up trash.
Many people have been exposed to positive reactions, and some have even died after becoming infected. The truth is, being a janitor is an extremely important job, regardless of the salary. A city is an ecosystem. A city can run smoothly only if there are people collecting garbage.
Some experts point out that it only takes three days for a city the size of New York to be paralyzed. If the garbage treatment plant is closed one day, the janitors cannot take away the garbage, and residents continue to throw away garbage, New York City will collapse within three days.
Finally, Zhang regretted that although this job is so important, cleaners do not get enough respect. There is a saying in this industry that there are only three things that draw attention to a cleaner, namely making noise while collecting rubbish, blocking traffic and us not coming out to collect rubbish.
