Staffing Jobs Not Just Kid Stuff

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Brooke Barousse has made a career out of her knack for matchmaking.

Initially, her seven-year-old Sherman Oaks company, Lexington Nannies and Household Staffing, exclusively matched wealthy parents with nannies. But demand from clients caused her to add another line of business, and last year she expanded to include placements for personal chefs, housekeepers and others.

Today, she said, those placements have grown to become 30 percent of her business.

“The more established I got, the more people would refer their friends or tell me they need other staff,” Barousse said. “They’d say, ‘Brooke, could you find me a chef?’ When you build trust with someone, they trust your matchmaking skills, so I branched out.”

Barousse vets her candidates, putting them through an FBI-level background check and several interviews. She said she rejects about 80 percent of the applicants, and keeps a roster of about 100 potential nannies and household staff.

When a family calls looking for a nanny or other staff, she does a quick personality and needs assessment, and tries to connect them with a compatible employee.

“You choose a chef position based on personality, but also types of food they prepare, such as low-calorie or vegan cuisine,” she said.

Her clients are concentrated in Los Angeles, but she has worked with families across California and as far as New York.

Most placements are at least a year long, though shorter- and longer-term jobs do come up. Typical rates for nannies range from $17 to $35 an hour while chefs receive $300 to $500 a day. Lexington receives a one-time fee equivalent to 15 percent of an employee’s annual salary for its service.

Caitlin Moldvay, senior analyst covering the household services industry for Ibis World Inc. in Santa Monica, said companies in the sector can expect to grow by diversifying their offerings as the economy improves.

“There’s a greater trend toward outsourcing household services,” Moldvay said. “So there are key benefits to diversifying. It provides a greater ease for the consumer to use a company with a trusted reputation to serve all of their needs.”

– Jacquelyn Ryan