Caretaker to retire initially after New Year (7)

I believe the answer is:

janitor

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'caretaker' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'to retire initially after new year' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'new year' becomes 'jani' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The first letter of 'retire' is 'r'.
'to'+'r'='tor'
'tor' put after 'jani' is 'JANITOR'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for janitor that I've seen before include "Caretaker (mainly US)" , "Caretaker or doorkeeper" , "One employed to clean and maintain a building" , "(In Scotland) school caretaker" , "Person looking after building" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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