Coronavirus deep clean surge sparks recruitment drive at Whizz

On-demand cleaning startup Whizz is looking to recruit 1,000 new cleaners over the next six months to meet the rising demand for specialised disinfectant and decontamination deep cleaning.

Whizz, started by Mark Bernberg, Adam Abrams and Julian Tobias in 2015, already has 1,500 cleaners on its books who operate as contractors. It turned over around $10 million last year in a sector valued at $12.8 billion in Australia and Mr Bernberg said demand had soared in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We were quite surprised as the initial thought from our perspective was people wouldn't want third parties coming into home but we have supplied every cleaner with face masks and gloves and we make sure every cleaner is given a temperature check before they go out for the day," he said.

Mark Bernberg co-founded Whizz in 2015 and has attracted prominent investors to the startup.

The startup is backed by prominent investors, including Goldman Sachs chief executive Simon Rothery, Tony Gandel of Melbourne's Gandel family and Alex Waislitz founder of the Thorney Investment Group.

Mr Waislitz said he has been involved with Whizz since its inception and the startup was "well placed" to help support efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Whizz uses hospital grade disinfectant and ethanol products for its deep cleans to ensure they are effective on coronavirus.

"We genuinely feel cleaning is the foundation on which the economy will be rebuilt on," Mr Bernberg said. "It will only take a couple of COVID-19 affected areas to create a second wave."

Whizz is seeing increased demand for deep cleaning in the wake of coronavirus. Credit: Ian Lee

He added expectations of cleaning had changed from customers wanting things to be generally tidy with clean bathrooms to a focus on disinfecting high touch areas.

"Because of COVID-19 there are going to be lasting changes in behaviour and a higher expectation of cleanliness and the end product of a cleaning service," he said.

Whizz cleaners wear face masks and gloves to perform a deep clean. Credit: Ian Lee

Mr Bernberg also said that Whizz has been able to provide work for recently displaced workers.

"We are one of the lucky few companies that this was an opportunity for us," he said.

"We are not trying to take advantage of the situation but to try to help people who have been stood down or are out of work."

Gig economy platform Airtasker has also seen increased demand for deep cleaning with a shift of 8 per cent of the volume of cleaning jobs on the platform towards deeper household cleans costing $200 and above in a comparison of 6 March to 10 April data.

"Airtasker cleaners tell us this is driven by clients requiring 'deeper cleaning of the entire property' instead of 'just doing the bathrooms or wiping over the kitchen'," said Airtasker co founder and chief executive Tim Fung. "Meanwhile households are handling surface cleans themselves."