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Note from ENTOUCH CEO: Managing Crises
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How Facilities Management Tech Can Help Guide Your Facilities Management Career

The world of facilities management tech is expanding. Facilities Managers have access to more information than ever before, and the need to optimize systems is delivering systems that are more self-sufficient than ever before. With advances in the IoT and AI, facilities management tech has grown smarter and can increasingly handle its own crises, within reason of course. However, facilities management tech can have additional impacts on the field, even guiding careers.

Facilities Management Is Experiencing a Talent Crisis

In a survey of 2,500 Facilities Managers, researchers found that the average age of today’s Facilities Manager is 50.9 years. This may not seem like a problem, but consider the average age of retirement, which is 62. That means that the average Facility Manager will retire within the next 15 years, and the field is experiencing trouble with attracting new talent. Fortunately, facilities management tech can be used as a lightning rod to attract the next generation of talent.

For instance, millennials want to work in positions that are technology-rich, so deploying new facilities management tech may attract talent. Moreover, technological advances mean workers can focus more on management, not endless service calls and after-hours interruptions. As a result, the traditional arguments against facilities management – which see it as being a dull career and offering lackluster advancement opportunities – fall short.

Facilities Management Tech Is Exciting, Positioning the Field in Front of Millennials

A nominal one percent of college students are planning careers in the field of facilities management, and a mere 43 percent have heard of facilities management. This is unacceptable. Facilities management is a tech-based career. Look no further than the precedence of computerized maintenance management systems, software-as-a-service platforms, and use automation to streamline responsibilities. This level of technology puts the industry at the forefront by tapping into what millennials have come to love, mobile technology.

What Does Facilities Management Tech Look Like in Action?

For those considering a career in facilities management, it is best to consider an example. As explained by FM Link, tech-savvy Facilities Managers follow these steps:

  1. Clicking on an error message or warning about a problem with a facilities asset.
  2. Using remote cameras, the user takes a picture of the asset.
  3. The system automatically identifies the problem’s cause and generates a work order.
  4. Upon verification that the necessary parts are available in inventory, the user can submit the work order to a field service vendor.
  5. The vendor receives the request, and then the system identifies available service times using automation.
  6. The user reviews the available schedule and selects an appropriate time.
  7. The system verifies completion of the request the next day and generates an automated payment to the vendor.
  8. The Facilities Managers go on with their daily responsibilities.

Notice that the Facility Manager never had to leave the computer but inspecting facilities on-site will still be part of the career. Of course, that task may be allocated for on-site staff, and a companywide Facility Manager may only be responsible for issues arising that exceed authorization limits or concerns of on-site staff. Facilities management is a tech-based field, and given the advancement of technology, Facilities Managers will be focused more on using new tech than just repairing issues as they arise. In a sense, Facilities Management is transitioning from maintenance to actual management, reviewing workloads, streamlining operations, and managing the workforce, not being stuck in the proverbial trenches, explains Judie Cooper via Facility Executive.

Become a Better Facilities Manager With Facilities Management Tech Today

Facilities management faces a crisis in the form of a major talent gap, but new facilities management technology will help attract the next generation and encourage greater interest in a facilities management career.