Cleaning Operative

You clean office floors, corridors, toilets and break rooms before tenants arrive, usually between 5am and 9am, with a second shift covering retail units in the afternoon. The work is mostly mopping, dusting, emptying bins, refilling soap and paper, and running a scrubber-drier over tiled lobbies. You move between two or three sites in a day, so you keep your trolley stocked and tick off a checklist for each one. Spills and cleaning chemicals get logged, and anything broken or unsafe gets reported to the site supervisor. Some shifts include glass doors, lifts and stairwells. You work to a route, not a clock, so once the list is done and signed off you are done.

Able to be on site for a 5am start, six days some weeks

Comfortable on your feet for the full shift and lifting bin bags and equipment

Basic English or Italian for safety signs and supervisor instructions

Careful with cleaning chemicals and willing to follow the dilution labels

Reliable timekeeping, since the buildings open whether you are there or not

No experience needed, the trolley and scrubber-drier are taught on day one

Shared accommodation arranged for the first three months, rent deducted at cost

Airport pickup and help with the residence paperwork

Monthly transport pass for the routes between sites

Uniform, gloves and all cleaning equipment provided

Enrolment in the national health system from your first contract

You start at 1270 net a month. Once you can run a site on your own and pass the chemical safety check, usually inside six months, pay moves up to 1460 net. From there the next step is team lead, looking after a small crew and the daily checklists.

The sites are office blocks and a covered shopping centre, both indoors and climate controlled, so you are out of the Rome heat for most of the day. Floors can be wet and you cover a lot of ground, but the work is steady and the same buildings come round each week. A supervisor is on each site and signs off the checklist with you.