The New Era of Private Household Staffing
The private household is changing shape. Once anchored to a single residence with a settled local team, it is increasingly structured as a sophisticated enterprise, spanning key cities, moving fluidly between continents and demanding the very best from the people who run it.
Ultra‑high‑net‑worth families are more mobile, more diversified and more intentional about how their homes and lives are managed. And this is fundamentally reshaping what “good” looks like in private household staffing.
At Cora, we see this shift in the majority of our client conversations. The question is no longer “who can we hire for the house?” It has become something altogether more considered: how do we build a household team that actually keeps pace with our lives?
A decade of global wealth and mobility
It is clear to see the global wealthy are growing in number, in complexity, and in how far they travel.
The global UHNW population has continued to rise, with North America and Western Europe remaining dominant, while Asia is projected to see the fastest growth in ultra wealthy individuals at nearly 7% annually through 2030. “Millionaire migration” is accelerating in parallel, with tens of thousands of high-net-worth individuals relocating each year in search of safety, lifestyle and favourable tax regimes.
Cities like Singapore, London, Dubai and New York sit at the top of global rankings for the concentration of affluent residents and the cost of luxury living, underlining their status as the principal hubs for UHNW households. In the Middle East, luxury markets are growing faster than the global average, supported by ambitious infrastructure and investment. For households, this translates into more properties, more time zones, and a greater need for well-coordinated, cross-border private household teams.
Private household services: from informal help to a global industry
The market that sits behind all of this is expanding fast. The private household services sector is forecast to grow from around £265 billion in 2025 to roughly £290 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of close to 10% – with further acceleration expected through the end of the decade. Globally, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates there are around 67 million domestic workers, and employment in this sector is projected to outpace the average for all occupations.
Even within niche segments, demand is tangible. High-net-worth individuals now spend, on average, around £150,000 per year on domestic staff payroll, with strong increases in demand for specialist roles: live-in private chefs, professional nannies, house managers, and wellness focused staff. What was once an informal, opaque corner of the labour market is now organised, data-rich and fiercely competitive.
Global families, flexible teams
For UHNW families whose lives span multiple continents and properties, the old model (one permanent team tied to a single residence) is no longer fit for purpose.
What we are seeing instead is a move towards blended structures: a small, trusted core of long-term staff supplemented by rota, seasonal and travel-ready professionals who can flex around travel, events and school calendars. In London and New York, this often means a permanent house manager or chief of staff anchoring the household, with a network of housekeepers, chefs and nannies who can scale up or travel at relatively short notice. In Europe and the Middle East, rota models are gaining traction, particularly for childcare and security, allowing teams to deliver intensive coverage while protecting rest periods and reducing the risk of burnout and turnover. In Singapore and other Asian hubs, we are seeing growing demand for staff who can move fluidly between continents while navigating complex immigration requirements.
The value a good agency brings is no longer just finding the right person for a role. It is helping families design structures that are sustainable, well-documented and compliant – rather than simply trying to stretch one exceptional hire across an impossible brief.
The rising bar for skills and professionalism
As the market matures, expectations are rising on both sides. Salaries are under upward pressure across senior housekeeping and management roles, with mid- to high-single-digit percentage increases in some markets in 2026 alone. Employers are paying more, and rightly so, for proven experience in luxury environments, strong long-term references, and specialist skills such as childcare qualifications, advanced cooking, wellness support and smart-home proficiency.
Cultural intelligence and discretion have moved from desirable to essential, particularly for staff accompanying families between UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asian households, each with distinct norms, privacy expectations and hierarchies. There is also a clear trend towards technology enabled service: from managing digital household manuals and security systems to collaborating seamlessly with family office teams and external advisors across time zones. In this environment, “experience in private households” is no longer sufficient. Families want evidence of genuine professionalism, continuous development and a long-term commitment to the profession.
Regulation, risk and the case for trusted partners
The regulatory environment is tightening, too. Even where a private household is not a traditional corporate employer, right-to-work checks, wage documentation, contract clarity and robust dispute-handling are increasingly expected – and in many jurisdictions, required. When staffing spans multiple countries, immigration, tax and employment law considerations multiply, often requiring close coordination with relocation specialists and legal counsel.
For UHNW families, the risk of reputational or legal exposure from poorly structured arrangements is now too significant to overlook. As a result, many are moving away from ad-hoc hiring and towards long term relationships with a small number of deeply trusted partners: a specialist household staffing agency working alongside a family office, global mobility provider and legal advisors. The agencies that thrive in this environment are those who can operate as genuine strategic partners, like Cora does, sitting alongside these teams to help design robust, compliant and high-functioning household ecosystems.
What this means for sophisticated global households
Three things stand out from these trends for globally mobile UHNW families:
- Demand for skilled private household staff is rising, salaries are moving upwards, and regulation is tightening. Being a genuinely attractive employer, not just one who offers a strong headline package, is now a real competitive advantage in the search for exceptional people.
- The most resilient households are building flexible, international staffing models that combine a trusted core team with travel-ready and seasonal specialists, rather than relying on a single exceptional hire to do everything. And working with specialist partners who understand both global wealth dynamics and the realities of domestic labour markets is fast becoming essential – to protect families, staff and reputations across every location they call home.
- In this new era, the central question is no longer “who can we hire locally?” but “what is the right global structure for our household and who can help us build and sustain it?” That is where a more strategic, globally focused approach to private household recruitment adds the most value.
Thinking about your global household structure?
We would love to hear from you. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a transition or simply want to sense check your current household set-up, Cora’s team is here to help. Simply get in touch to start the conversation.