FM in action

Mark Brewer, VP of Service Industries, IFS, reveals the best ways to optimise service operations

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global facility management market is projected to grow from $1,260.36bn in 2022 to $1,856.44bn by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% in the forecast period. To take advantage of this growing market demand, facilities management (FM) companies must effectively respond to several trends, challenges and macroenvironment changes that have significantly impacted the industry.

First, in the new age of hybrid working, they are having to deal with a more distributed workforce. This model forces facility managers to be more strategic about managing and maintaining office space, building infrastructure, and investing in technology that supports hybrid collaboration. While many companies are scaling back their headquarters operations, others are increasing the number of satellite offices closer to where people live to encourage in-person collaboration. That’s creating new demands and challenges for FM companies.

Second, customers are becoming more demanding and are increasingly looking for outcome-based contracts that provide defined end results and guaranteed solutions to problems rather than traditional ones that simply deliver a product, or a service.

Third, due to an aging workforce and resource shortages, many facilities management teams lack the workers and skills they need. Subcontractors can help to fill in gaps, yet over-dependency can reduce profit margins and result in inefficiencies. It can also hurt customer satisfaction if subcontractors do not deliver the same quality of service as the organisation’s own field engineers, who ultimately serve as brand ambassadors.