Gendered Labour, Survival and Identity: An Ethnographic Study of Indonesian Migrant Janitors in Malaysia's Cleaning Sector

Abstract

This study examines the gendered labour experiences, structural precarity, and everyday agency of Indonesian migrant janitors in Malaysia’s commercial cleaning sector. While existing research on Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia has predominantly focused on domestic work, manufacturing, and construction, commercial janitorial labour remains comparatively under-researched, particularly from a gendered perspective. Drawing on Intersectionality Theory and Gendered Agency, the study investigates how gender norms, migrant legal status under the Pas Lawatan Kerja Sementara (PLKS), class, and occupational stigma shape workplace relations and workers lived experiences. A qualitative ethnographic approach was employed through four months of fieldwork from May to August 2026 across three private cleaning companies in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Data were collected through approximately 280 hours of participant observation, 12 semi-structured interviews, 48 informal conversations, and three key- informant interviews with managers. Findings reveal a strongly gendered division of labour, whereby male janitors are disproportionately assigned physically demanding and hazardous tasks, while female janitors are concentrated in detailed interior cleaning and emotional labour. The PLKS system further intensifies vulnerability by restricting workers’ mobility and enabling managerial coercion, including unpaid labour extensions and unsafe working conditions. The study also identifies a “visibility/recognition paradox, ” whereby workers experience social invisibility in corporate spaces but receive individualized recognition in private residential settings. Despite structural constraints, workers demonstrate agency through peer solidarity, re-signification of “dirty work” as skilled and honourable labour, and transnational family-oriented identities.