GOOD HELP IS HARD TO FIND

“Good help is hard to find,” said Sarah Tilton in The Wall Street Journal. According to staffing agencies and house managers, “demand for the well-staffed home is on the rise” as more wealthy clients than ever are looking to staff up. They’re seeking butlers, housekeepers, cooks, and even flight attendants for private jets and stewards for yachts. One Los Angeles staffing agency that normally fields a single request per month for a butler “has gotten three in the past week alone.” Some homeowners want “old-fashioned Downton Abbey–type service,” but that doesn’t come cheap. A good housekeeper can earn up to $90,000 a year, and an experienced butler might draw as much as $200,000. Yet some people simply can’t manage without help: “The bigger the house, the greater the number of dust bunnies.”