Facility management in today’s parlance refers to the use of external agencies for the maintenance of a building or facility. It is a revolution that has been happening for a few years.
Realty and services companies were driving this change and, in turn, employing thousands of people. Commercial centres in large urban locations have undergone the change and, suddenly, the industry is appearing to be very big.
It is not just appearing to be big. It is bigger than what is, perhaps, the perception. Facilities management is witnessing huge growth: Strong growth in the commercial real estate market is driving a large number of blue collared workers to the facilities management industry.
An industry report has suggested that the industry is growing at about 20 per cent annually and will grow to become a $19 billion powerhouse by 2020. The boom in real estate has spawned the industry as has the requirements for global standards in professional delivery of service and management of facilities. Facility management services typically comprise of building operation and maintenance and support services. These include water and waste management, energy management, Electrical-Mechanical maintenance .Housekeeping, security, transportation and parking, and horticulture and landscaping.
Growing from typical ‘mom-and-pop stores’ to the integrated services on offer today, facilities management has come a long way. With outsourcing finally coming to fore, facilities management is almost an industry today. The numbers are so huge that it has evinced the interest of global and large Indian companies and, interestingly, the big three in the category are global behemoths: JLL, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, who together garner more than half of the category’s business.
The workforce from this category is making a difference and is almost omnipresent in newer installations (retail, commercial, residential, hospitality, and healthcare). Visit any large commercial establishment and the unseen hand of these workers will be apparent. Facility management is gaining huge acceptance among the customers in commercial and residential sector as it helps in the hassle-free management of buildings and facilities in a professional manner.
Like with any other industry, facilities management industry is also facing a huge people crunch and needs to skill the category since the customers are asking for more than mere basics. Those who are serious about the business have already started to invest heavily in skilling and constant skill up-gradation of the workforce, given the fact that there is a focus today on more and more innovative methods of managing the facilities. Safety and security are of paramount concern here, hence proper verification of the workforce is also a given in the category.
As the demand for the segment is moving from metros and mini-metros to tier II and tier III cities due to increased business activities in these areas, it is believed that a large chunk of business will also be from these segments. There is a huge opportunity here for global as well as home grown businesses to thrive and make a difference!
