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The sector is facing a shortage of professionals and urgently needs to attract new talent, according to a report by the International Facility Management Association and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The third Raising the Bar study – which surveyed more than 2,500 facilities managers around the world – concludes that the profession must transform its ‘Cinderella’ image to attract diverse new talent, as the average age of the workforce, as found in the survey, is currently 50.9 years.

The report also identified the need for increased focus on the strategic impact of facilities management and the need to do more to champion the benefits professionals can deliver to workplaces and the people and organisations that use them.

RICS UK Commercial Property Director Paul Bagust said: “In the past, facility management has been seen as a Cinderella profession, which explains the problems in attracting and retaining new talent to replace professionals when they leave. To challenge this image, we must increase our strategic focus and champion the ways in which facility management can enhance productivity in the workplace and show the vital role that FM professionals play in the workplace.

“As working practices evolve in the digital age, FMs will need new skills based on collaboration and forging interpersonal relationships. Our innovative collaboration with IFMA is an exciting development to encourage and nurture these skills.  And, by working together to standardise working practices and standards across the globe, we will unite the FM community and ensure it is ideally placed to attract a diverse range of new talent and take advantage of the opportunities that exist for this dynamic and fast-evolving profession.”

Tony Keane, President and CEO of IFMA, added: “This is valuable report provides empirical support for what many FM professionals have been saying for years. It should serve as a clarion call to action for the global FM industry.”

 

The full report will be published later this month. In the meantime an executive summary, which includes a series of recommendations for action, is available here.

This article first appeared in i-FMon 16th March 2017.