Focus

Made-to-order maids lacking in the capital

By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-16 09:20

A total of 60 maids, who have received systematic training, arrive in Beijing during Spring Festival to address the city's increasing demand of qualified maids. [Zhang Bin / for China Daily]

Despite there being about 400,000 maids in Beijing, few can meet the demands of high-end families in the city, especially foreign families.

According to the Beijing Taxation Authority, the high-income population hit 250,000 in 2008. A blue paper issued by the Beijing Academy of Social Science placed the total average capital of a high-income family at 2.36 million yuan this year.

So, while there are plenty of rich families in the city, their needs are certainly not common - they seek a particular type of "high-end maid".

One definition of a "high-end maid", offered on beijingbaomu.com, a housekeeping website, said the employees should know how to cook Western food, understand Western manners, manage the families' expenses, understand basic English and be able to teach nursery rhymes to children. The average monthly salary for a "high-end maid" is about 3,000 yuan, on top of some basic insurance coverage.

Shanghai Morning Post said "high-end maids" should speak fluent English, hold a degree in culture and, of course, be able to do a little housework.

A client (right) seeks advice from two maids in Beijing. [Zou Hong / China Daily]

Virtually every definition lists a sound knowledge of English as paramount, but a housekeeping industry insider said only about 15 percent of maids are educated to a college standard.

As a result, the municipal government has adopted measures to improve the skill set of maids since last year.

One training project, which started last October and benefited 12,000 maids last year, is planning to train another 60,000 maids this year, said Guo Jianxin, deputy director of rights department with the Beijing Municipal Federation of Trade Unions, which takes charge of the project.

The government invested more than 20 million yuan into the project, which offers courses that include cooking, nursing, cleaning and flower arrangement, to suit the needs of wealthy families.

However, the project does not include skills essential for working with foreign families, due to a lack of qualified trainees.

"We have the course ready, but there is no trainee," said Zhang Yonghong, a teacher with the Beijing City University, which is one of the training institutions for the project.

Because of mismatches between maids and clients, an imbalance between demand and supply has arisen.

"I have tried out more than 10 nannies for my son in the past two years. Getting a 'high-end maid' is a big problem in this city," said Yin Jianfeng, general manager with The Beijing Verymaid Inc, a housekeeping company for rich families.

A maid shows her certificate of honor issued by the goverment for her excellent work. [Fu Han / for China Daily]

Yin said his son can now sing a nursery rhyme in a Hebei dialect after learning it from their nanny, but one of his neighbors told him it was undignified.

"There are many people like me in Beijing who want a decent nanny and do not care about the price - we want quality service," Yin said.

He concluded that the reason for the imbalance between demand and supply was at the company level.

Yin said most staff in housekeeping companies do not have any real management knowledge and will introduce maids to clients without consideration.

According to the Beijing Bureau of Commerce, the registered capital of a housekeeping company should be at least 100,000 yuan. However, a survey the bureau carried out at the end of 2006, showed that only 13 percent of Beijing companies meet the requirement.

Yin claimed only five housekeeping companies among more than 3,000 in Beijing have 300,000 yuan in registered capital.

Companies with limited capital are believed to be unable to support training programs for maids, indicating that many nannies are employed with an absence of skills.

"The companies I have worked for did nothing other than introduce clients to me and claim 20 percent of my salary as commission," said Wang Xiuzhen, a 44-year-old maid who has worked in Beijing for more than five years.

Wang said not a single one offered training. She eventually cut herself off to attend a free training project run by the government, so she could raise her salary expectations.

Yin said his company gives 10 to 14 days of training to every newcomer, owing to the fact that it has 2 million yuan in registered capital.

He said he opened his first base on March 8 and is already preparing a third.

Yin plans to handle only one percent of the high-end housekeeping market in Beijing, which is about 2,000 families.