Housekeepers and maids perform essential tasks like emptying our office trash cans at night, as well as mopping floors, making beds and polishing furniture in our hotel rooms while we’re sightseeing on vacation. In general, maids and housekeepers dust around, soap up, suds down and mop away our messes, helping keep our lives running smoothly (and hygienically).

Most maids and housekeepers work in hotels and motels, which explains why some of the field’s highest-paid employees work in big cities and travel destinations with a plethora of hotels, but the next-largest chunk of the workforce cleans in private households. The rest are mainly split among nursing homes, hospitals and office buildings. In public facilities, a maid’s duties might sometimes overlap with those of janitors, although maids primarily work indoors, and janitors might handle larger cleanup jobs and repair work.

Characters such as Anna Bates in "Downton Abbey" and Minny Jackson in "The Help" have brought the lives and responsibilities of maids closer to the forefront. But it’s not just the upper class that benefits from these workers’ services.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 0.1% employment growth for maids and housekeepers between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 1,600 jobs should open up.

There’s no standardized training to become a housekeeper, although most employers insist on hiring people who have earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. Those with prior experience are more marketable, of course, but a personable and professional candidate also stands a good chance of gaining employment. That’s especially true if he or she is a quick study and has good customer service skills. New hires tend to receive on-the-job training from more experienced maids.