Skip to main content
Facilitate Magazine: Informing Workplace and Facilities Management Professionals - return to the homepage Facilitate magazine logo
  • Search
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @Facilitate_Mag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Logo of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
    • Comment
    • People
    • Reports
    • Research
  • Features
    • Analysis
    • Features
    • Round Tables
    • Webinars
  • Outsourcing
    • Contract Finder
    • Contracts
    • FM Business Models
    • Interviews
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Opinion
    • Procurement
    • Trends
  • Know-How
    • Explainers
    • Legal Updates
    • White Papers
  • Jobs
  • Topics
    • Workplace Services
      • Hospitality
      • Catering
      • Cleaning
      • Front of House
      • Grounds Maintenance
      • Helpdesk
      • Mailroom
      • Manned Guarding / Security
      • Pest Control
      • Washroom Services
      • Disaster Recovery
      • Specialist Services
    • Professional Performance
      • Behavioural Change
      • Continual Professional Development
      • Education
      • Management
      • Recruitment
      • Training
    • Workplace Performance
      • Benchmarking
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Operational Readiness
      • Procurement
      • Security
      • Workplace User Experience
      • Workplace Culture
    • Compliance
      • Health & Safety
      • Risk & Business Continuity
      • Standards
      • Statutory Compliance
    • Building Services
      • Architecture & Construction
      • Asset Management
      • Building Controls
      • Building Fabric
      • Drinking Water
      • Fire Protection
      • HVAC
      • Landscaping
      • Mechanical & Electrical
      • Building Security
      • Water, Drainage & Plumbing
    • Technology
      • Building Information Modelling
      • CAFM
      • Data & Networks
      • Document Management
      • Information Management
      • Internet of Things (IoT)
      • Software & Systems
    • Energy management
      • Energy Management Systems
      • Electricity
      • Gas
      • Solar
      • Wind
    • Sustainability
      • Environmental Quality
      • Social Value
      • Waste Management
      • Recycling
    • Workspace Design
      • Agile Working
      • Fit-Out & Refurbishment
      • Inclusive Access
      • Lighting
      • Office Interiors
      • Signage
      • Space Planning
      • Storage
      • Vehicle Management / Parking
      • Washroom
    • Sectors
      • Corporate Office
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Manufacturing
      • International
      • Retail
      • Sports & Leisure
      • Regions
  • Buyers' Guide
Quick links:
  • Home
  • News
  • Comment
Topics
Workplace Performance

Future proofing FM

Open-access content Monday 30th June 2014 — updated 2.38pm, Tuesday 5th May 2020

 

30 June 2014  

Every now and then it's a privilege to be in the hall for a presentation that challenges your perception of future priorities.


Anil Menon, president Globalization and Smart+Connected Communities at Cisco Systems inc., was one such speaker recently.

Menon's talk was about the need to address a lack of digital infrastructure and how the collision of dramatically increased urbanisation of cities with the commoditisation of digital technology will fundamentally affect the way we conceive of, construct and manage the built environment.

It's heady, big-picture stuff, but the speed of change is already giddying. And in an FM news landscape dominated by such topics as legal changes to zero-hours contracts and the need to respond to greater worker flexibility, it's sobering to consider the predictions for how the built environment will look for those working in FM come the year 2050. Because although that's a year unlikely to see the working involvement of any of today's FMs aged at the sector's current median, it will assuredly involve those young facilities managers just now entering the profession. 

This, the first generation to make FM a deliberate career choice, will be in their fifties come 2050. It's truly astounding to consider some of the changes we're likely to have seen by then. A facilities manager aged in their fifties now can look back 26 years to 1978 and track the very formation of the sector.

An FM of similar age in 2050 and looking back 26 years to today will, I am sure, see change in their role that will make the whole 'formation of the sector' thing look positively pedestrian. It's difficult to pick out an overall trend, but let's list a few. Currently, a body of people the size of the entire population of Australia migrates from the Chinese countryside to Chinese cities every year. By 2050, half of the world's GDP will be generated by just two countries - China and India. Oh yes, and there are twice as many mobile phones as toothbrushes sold in the world each year. Did I mention that the world is urbanising - i.e, becoming city-based - at a rate that's equivalent to a city the size of London every month?

Even the small things will be seen to be big when looked back on in 2050. Remember 2009? Gordon Brown as PM? If that seems like yesterday, consider that iPads didn't exist then. Today, 59 per cent of UK households have a tablet PC. To take just one example, the way in which we use this mobile tech is still in its infancy; a slew of impending healthcare products and services tied to smartphones will have an extraordinary impact on the type and size of healthcare facilities in the years ahead.

It's tempting to look at a current red-flag FM issues, flexible working in particular, as merely a symptom of the ongoing digital revolution. Urbanisation, and the need to curb energy consumption, will lead to integrated ways of working and workplace management that we can only dream of at present.

It comes down to some fundamental reassessments. For example, "What if you had unlimited bandwidth," asked Menon. "Would you do things you do now in the same way?" That's the kind of question that deserves attention now. Because you can be sure that those currently entering the profession will be working with whatever the answer to it is.

Martin Read is managing editor at FM World

Also filed in:
Comment
Content
Topics
Workplace Performance

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Today's top reads

 

Latest Jobs

Project Leader (Maternity Cover One Year Contract)

Cambridge
Circa £50,000 Pro Rata + Benefits & Opportunities
Reference
56378

Maintenance Supervisor

Surrey
Up to £43,000 + Excellent Package & Opportunities
Reference
56376

Regional Facilities Manager

South West England
Circa £40,000 + Benefits & Opportunities
Reference
56375
See all jobs »

 

 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to print

Sign up to receive our bi-monthly magazine

Subscribe
Facilitate magazine cover, June 2020
​
FOLLOW US
@Facilitate_Mag
Facilitate Magazine
Facilitate Magazine
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel: 020 7880 6200
​

IWFM

About IWFM
Become a member
Qualifications
Events

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to Facilitate Magazine
Write for Facilitate Magazine

General

IWFM Jobs
Help

© 2022 • www.facilitatemagazine.com and Facilitate Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ