Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is now paying full- and part-time custodial workers a minimum of $16.45 an hour, the school announced recently.
That puts the custodial worker pay at the state-owned technical school well above the median $14.08 an hour being advertised for similar workers in Lancaster County, according to Valerie Hatfield, director of compliance and business engagement at the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board.
College president Pedro Rivera said the school is obligated to provide a sustainable wage for its employees as its mission is to prepare a workforce to earn a sustainable wage.
The school employs three full-time and 24 part-time custodians, and currently has three part-time vacancies. The college is also making custodian schedules more flexible to help workers deal with child care and other issues.
“We are looking at flexible scheduling from the perspective of equity and quality of life for our employees,” Rivera said in an emailed statement. “Considering flexible scheduling allows us to shift our focus around the needs of the employees and their family. We don’t want to ask a parent to sacrifice a good job opportunity at the College because of a family obligation, such as child care. Shifting our focus to equity around the needs of our employees is aligned with our core mission as a college and as an employer.”
Here’s are some key numbers about custodians in Lancaster County, according to the Workforce Development Board analysis:
There are 5,314 workers in the category known as building cleaning workers, which includes janitors, housekeepers and maids. Generally, janitors make slightly more than those classified as housekeepers and maids.
The median wage for janitor jobs is $14.08, while housekeepers positions are being advertised with a median wage of $12.
The building cleaners category lost 341 workers in 2020 due to the pandemic. It still has not reached prepandemic levels.
There were about 300 janitor job posts active in Lancaster County for janitors as of Feb. 13. There were about 350 around Feb. 22 last year. Online job ads are a timely indicator of local demand.
Of the 5,314 workers in the building cleaning workforce, 1,576, or 30%, are employed in “services to buildings and dwellings,” and 427, or 8%, are employed by elementary and secondary schools. Traveler accommodations employ 649, or 12%. Colleges, universities and professional schools employ 68, or 1.3%, of all janitors.
