Thinking of butlers often evokes images of an old mansion, and a greying servant attending to his master and his estate – but the profession is very much alive in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Research from jobs portal Adzuna.co.za earlier this year listed butlers as one of the jobs that was surprisingly in relatively high demand.<\/p>\n
“People tend to think of butlers as expensive and posh, like those seen in films. However, they are also hired by hotels, casinos and private individuals,” Adzuna said.<\/p>\n
“They are often referred to as \u2018House Managers\u2019 and sometimes manage other butlers as VIP Services Managers.”<\/p>\n
Many students go to hotel schools, or even sign on to university courses<\/a><\/strong> set for the hospitality industry; however, there exists at least one group –\u00a0the South African Butler Acadamy (SABA) – that specialises in butlers alone.<\/p>\n And according to a number of job listing on the group’s website<\/a><\/strong>, it is apparent that many of these positions can be considerably well-paid.<\/p>\n For local positions, monthly salaries for specialist butler positions range from R18,000 to as high as R40,000 per month (R220,000 to R480,000 a year). Many of these are live-in positions as well for wealthy families or business, with many other benefits included.<\/p>\n According to the SABA, many South African-trained butlers are also in demand overseas, and international job listings – for hotels, cruise liners or estate management – draw a monthly salary of between R27,500 \u00a0and R70,000 ($2,000 – $5,000), or some cases even as high as R100,000 (\u00a35,500).<\/p>\n