Worked part time as custodian after getting out of the military. Definitely felt invisible and unappreciated, but always had someone breathing down my neck if something wasn’t cleaned to their standard. But never a thank you or good job.

Now Im a supervisor, (different company) and I always make it a point to talk with cleaning staff when I see them. They work too hard to be taken for granted, and Im always pushing up on my managers that our cleaning staff are underpaid. I’ve figured out what drinks and snacks they enjoy so made it a point to leave them in my office with a note for them to enjoy, and a couple of times managed to convince their team lead to let me buy them all dinner after they cleaned up some real messes my team left. Do my best to keep my team tidy and not leaving the place a disaster but our custodians are humble people who like to remind me they get paid to show up and clean up what my team can’t. If I could get a keg into my office without getting myself or them fired I probably would.