(Radio Iowa) – “Help Wanted” signs have hung in the windows of many Iowa businesses for months and the competition is strong to snap up entry-level workers. Randy Leasure, owner of a chain of Iowa house cleaning businesses, says the pandemic forced his company — and his industry — to make drastic changes and they’re just now starting to bounce back. “We’ve obviously struggled like every business in the country is right now for staffing,” Leasure says. “As far as the client side, we’ve got plenty of leads and we’re actually turning quite a few people away and keeping our schedule very full, so we’re looking to hire so that we can grow.”

Leasure owns MaidPro outlets in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, all three of which are looking for new workers. He says 95% of the work is in individual homes. “We lost clients or people paused on us and our employees weren’t looking to go into homes during the pandemic,” Leasure says, “so we just naturally whittled down over that time and we’ve been trying to rebound with employees since.”

No experience is necessary and Leasure says he’s seeking workers with a valid driver’s license and a reliable vehicle who can pass a criminal background check. The pay with bonuses is 14 to 15-dollars an hour, plus tips, and it’s all weekday work with no nights or weekends. MaidPro also offers incentives for employees who stay with the company longer than 90 days. “We have a great training program in place,” Leasure says. “It spends the first two weeks going through training. We don’t just put anybody out there right away.”

He says it’s predicted the cleaning industry will see 53% growth between 2020 and 2024 and MaidPro is planning to hire more than 2,000 employees nationwide in the next few months to help meet demand.