Addressing the FM Labor Shortage

It is still a top concern today, as shown in the National Fire Protection Association’s 2025 Industry Trends Survey of electrical, manufacturing, construction, engineering, architect/design, facility maintenance, fire service and insurance/risk management professionals. A broader survey, ManpowerGroup’s 2025 Global Talent Shortage Survey of 40,413 employers in 42 countries, indicates that 74 percent of global employers across major industries are struggling to find the skilled talent they need.

One of the factors of the FM labor shortage is its aging workforce. More than 68 percent of facility operators and technicians in the United States are above the age of 45 and 21 percent of them remain active beyond retirement age. The challenge is not only to fill the positions of those when they retire; it is also a change-management and training challenge to impart their skills, experience and wisdom to those who take the reins. But change management and training are difficult when so much of the information resides in the minds of the senior staff rather than in information systems, due to lagging digital transformation and lagging FM system adoption in the industry.

Digital transformation can address the labor shortage

Digital transformation — integrating digital technology into all areas of a business to improve operations, insights, actions, agility, customer experience and satisfaction — can provide some solutions for FM’s labor woes. It can help attract, train and retain talent, collect and store information, and generate insights far beyond what is possible with legacy approaches. It also can ease change management when employees retire or move to different roles. By digitizing business processes and operational technology (OT) assets (pumps, valves, HVAC, meters, lighting, etc.), organizations have a new world of opportunities for insights and employee engagement and empowerment.

Digital transformation attracts talent when OT is digitized with Internet of Things (IoT) devices, because IoT metrics can be aggregated to provide so many insights. It also enables artificial intelligence (AI), which is flourishing along with its users’ careers to generate insights and decision support far beyond what was possible with legacy systems.

Digital transformation also facilitates training. When most of the FM information is collected and aggregated from IoT devices and stored in modern systems, it can be harnessed for training purposes, simulations and recreations of significant issues and events, in addition to independent study, review and reference.

Modern FM systems attract & retain talent

FM includes a fascinating mixture of OT and information technology (IT). However, it does not appear quite so fascinating to the next-generation workforce if those systems run on legacy, on-premises technology rather than cloud-based technology and mobile devices. New entrants to the workforce are digital natives who not only inherently embrace data-driven tools and automation but also want to work with cutting-edge technologies and cloud-based platforms to keep pace with the trajectory of information systems and technology.

Modern FM systems include the ability to create digital twins and monitor and visualize all OT assets of a building or a campus using IoT technology, but that is just the beginning. AI can then generate virtually limitless insights and recommendations regarding predictive maintenance, faults and optimizations for occupancy, cost savings and sustainability. Operational AI delivers efficiencies into business operations by automating, optimizing and enhancing processes.

Transitioning to digital operations was traditionally seen as expensive, resource intensive and complex with high setup costs. However, that perception is outdated. Today’s next-generation solutions are delivered as true enterprise SaaS: fast to deploy, with no setup costs and simple, pay-as-you-go subscription pricing.

The contemporary digital twin, empowered by integrated operational AI, systematically acquires, verifies, processes and organizes intricate spatial, static and real-time data from a variety of sources into a cohesive knowledge graph. This capability facilitates sophisticated AI-driven insights with thorough impact evaluations and intelligent decision-making, encompassing automation and issue remediation.

FMs with this level of detail and insights at their disposal can tap their creativity in concert with AI to fine-tune building or campus performance and be experts in their craft and environment. This approach fulfills the promise of AI to lift humans out of mundane tasks into the creative thinking that usually is a hallmark of job and career satisfaction and optimal performance.

Putting it all to work

Next-generation facilities management systems with advanced operational AI capabilities bridge the traditional gap between IT and OT systems, which did not always integrate and share data. The ability to monitor and visualize all OT assets and access the systems from anywhere is at the forefront of FM technology and is an aspect of modern facilities management systems that can help attract and retain talent.

Integrating building systems such as HVAC allows organizations to scale usage and timing based on their occupants’ needs. For example, with HVAC, FM systems can dynamically adjust settings based on real-time and predicted occupancy, weather and grid conditions to optimize comfort, energy usage, sustainability and cost. This is always beneficial, especially in hybrid work environments where occupancy can fluctuate throughout the day.

Digital twins and operational AI take the guesswork out of managing system and mechanical faults before they become failures. Continuous OT monitoring immediately detects anomalies, pinpoints the issue and the assets involved, and recommends or automatically performs remediation procedures. Using these systems to monitor water leaks can prevent headaches and costly remediation. A digital system can detect the fault and know exactly which valve to close, automatically close it, and prevent a deluge.

Analyzing data and subsequent reporting is much faster and accurate as well. Rather than relying on static dashboards and historical reports, FMs can use generative AI capabilities to ask questions in plain language — spoken or written — and receive real‑time answers, visualizations and reports in the language of their choice. They can instantly query the performance of specific assets or subsystems, past or present, and generate accurate, up‑to‑the‑minute reports without the labor‑intensive, error‑prone process of manual data collection.

These AI assistants meet people where they work, embedding context‑aware insights directly into operational workflows — whether on an asset page, managing a work order or reviewing a building portfolio. They do more than just deliver information; they act: creating maintenance tickets, generating work plans, recommending operational changes and tailoring guidance for each role, from engineers to executives. Over time, they learn from user interactions, proactively surfacing opportunities, risks and recommendations.

From predictive maintenance and fault detection to performance modeling and cost optimization, AI is an always‑on copilot for FMs to maximize efficiency, performance and sustainability across the built environment.

Making the sum greater than its parts

Incorporating asset design and performance specifications reveals whether assets are performing according to their specifications for optimal monitoring, anomaly and fault detection and predictive maintenance to minimize the occurrence and impact of faults and reduce or eliminate the cost of downtime.

This also plays a key role in energy initiatives. Application programming interfaces (APIs) provide insight into utilities’ current and forecasted energy availability, production and pricing. Those factors combined with weather data can optimize building performance and unlock energy efficiency and cost savings.

FM or energy management professionals can purchase energy at a lower cost and store it on-site or in nearby battery systems for use when costs are higher or during blackouts. FM systems with built-in operational AI capabilities can monitor the inputs from utilities, independent system operators and regional transmission organizations (neutral operators that maintain power grids reliably and fairly), weather and energy storage systems to recommend or automatically take appropriate actions such as dynamic load shedding, load shifting and peak demand shaving. Integrating building systems and assets enables them to influence and interact with each other.

APIs can also enable integration with any external system or data source required for information, monitoring, insights, or control and automation.

No-code and low-code environments enable a broad base of users to introduce new applications and features. This also widens the pool of candidates to work with advanced systems without programming training or experience.

Organizations that intentionally integrate FM systems should attract top talent who want to work with the most advanced technology available while staying up-to-date on developments.

Planned, meaningful digitization should also justify investments toward modernizing facilities management systems to senior management. As ROI from energy savings can occur rapidly, FM leaders will have greater insights into building performance, and their organizations can better attract and retain the next-generation workforce.

Efficiency, flexibility & support across industries

Furthermore, modern FM systems can benefit all vertical industries. With limitless possibilities for creativity, sustainability and applications, modernized and digitized organizations should succeed in meeting human resources measurables.

These systems are also scalable, adding even more value to the organization. FMs can easily integrate and manage new construction, organic growth and acquisitions under the umbrella of one system serving many locations. Collected data can be stored off-site in redundant, geographically diverse data centers, offering more protection from on-site disruptions or failures. Human resources can also scale accordingly with optimal training, insights, user-friendly interfaces and universal access.

Implementing modern FM systems enables organizations to tap top job candidates wherever they are. Ubiquitous access expands the talent pool from local to global. FM professionals also can broaden their job searches beyond their locations.

With these systems in place, FMs are better equipped to navigate recessions, natural disasters, blackouts, pandemics, illnesses, layoffs, vacancies and other disruptions. When all building information is loaded into a system and digital twin, FMs can better maintain their service-level agreements and address challenges. Modern, resilient systems attract employees who would rather work with systems that provide optimal support when they face disruptions.

Next-gen challenges demand next-gen solutions — tools that empower a modern, digitally fluent workforce.

Today’s organizations face a confluence of urgent imperatives:

• accelerating digital transformation to enable operational AI

• achieving ambitious energy efficiency and sustainability goals

• navigating fast-evolving regulatory and policy landscapes

• integrating a growing number of siloed OT, IoT and IT systems

• managing cybersecurity risks amid increased digitization

• supporting diverse hybrid work patterns

• scaling electrification and microgrid deployments, including BTMS/BESS adoption

• building resilience to geopolitical and energy market volatility

• responding to the rapid evolution of the energy grid, driven by energy-intensive technologies (AI, crypto, etc.) and a domestic manufacturing resurgence

• transitioning from basic demand-response to true demand flexibility through grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs)

• enabling participation in virtual power plants (VPPs) and broader grid services

Digital transformation with the new workforce at the helm can create a world where every building responds to the people, purpose and environments they serve. Those objectives and the systems that enable them should entice and retain FM employees in fulfilling careers that provide comfort to people while increasing energy grid resilience and reducing carbon footprints today and for future generations.