There are few who would dispute that facilities engineers (FEs) are an essential part of any manufacturing facility, power station, hospital and numerous other establishments across the UK. And yet it does need reiterating for reasons that are of growing concern – of which, more later.
But first a word on the extensive role an FE plays. This can embrace an extremely broad and diverse landscape, covering plant maintenance or the infrastructure of a building, for example. Moreover, depending on the company or organisation in question, facilities engineers might go under a different title, such as maintenance engineer, lead utilities engineer or maintenance systems lead – among other designations. So, their reach is broad and multi-faceted.
However, irrespective of the nomenclature employed, they all share the same objective: “To ensure that routine facility utility processes are carried out in the safest, most time-efficient and cost-effective way possible,” points out GetReskilled’s Claire Wilson, content marketing and career coaching – and Donagh Fitzgerald, its head of marketing and product development, mechanical/production engineer. “Facilities engineers achieve this through review and modification of existing processes, as well as design and implementation of new procedures or improvements. An FE can have direct responsibility for a range of facility infrastructure needs – such as HVAC, electrical engineering, EHS, energy, maintenance and civil engineering.”
ALL BASES COVERED
As well as the day-to-day running of the facility, a facilities engineer may also have budgetary responsibilities and duties around optimising operational efficiency. Equally, they may be involved in the development of new facilities, planning and implementing the facility infrastructure and utility systems.
All of which goes to illustrate the high levels of responsibility that come with the job – and that accountability is only going to intensify, cautions CBRE’s MD, Conrad Dean and UK operations and PMO director, Michael Bentman. “Not only did we see great changes to all industries post-pandemic, but we are also now seeing a sharp rise in digital transformation and the associated deployment of smart buildings, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), automation, mixed reality (MR) and spatial computing.”
As a result, the role and expectations of the facilities management team is also evolving. “Facilities managers are keeping building operations running smoothly, dealing with ageing assets, whilst also analysing building data and driving an organisation’s culture and values,” states Dean. “There’s a need for both hard and soft skills. For these reasons, talent attraction, training and upskilling have never been more important in facilities management.”
Most organisations now have a net zero target, Dean and Bentman point out – and facilities management is playing a central role in the delivery of the associated decarbonisation plans. “This means that carbon counting and understanding the Environmental, Social and Governance [ESG] impact of assets are now primary activities for facilities managers and engineers, where it was lower down [or not part of] the job description in the past,” reasons Benton.
In CBRE’s 2023 Client Care Survey, there was a notable increase in the number of clients requesting data literacy as a core skill of facilities managers working on the company’s sites. “The changing nature of buildings means the basic skills now needed for facilities engineers range from understanding archaic, mechanical plant systems in heritage buildings, to working on complex building automation systems in state-of-the-art high-rise buildings,” adds Bentman.
Which leads back to the concerns mentioned right at the start of this article about the essential role FEs play and how sustainable that is. As Dean and Bentman highlight: “The remit of a facilities engineer skill building has widened considerably, and the industry is facing a shortage of skilled engineers and a large skill gap as a result.”
MAKING UP THE NUMBERS
The forces driving that shortfall are identified in a study to which they refer. Carried out by The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, this predicts that, by 2026, nearly 20% of the current UK engineering workforce (91,000 engineers) will have retired or be just about to. “The UK requires 124,000 engineers and technicians with core engineering skills a year,” states the study. “The current annual shortfall of engineering graduates and technicians (47%) to fulfil these roles is said to stand at 59,000. This leaves a long-standing skills gap and a chronic failure to encourage enough young people to become engineers and skilled technicians.”
Stephanie Baxter, head of policy at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), says that the situation needs addressing with quality. “Workers are in high demand, but we don’t have the readily available recruits with the right skills to fill the labour market – something we have been reporting via our skills survey for over 15 years,” she reasons. “Frustratingly, little is changing. Engineering employers are generally reporting a lack of applicants for roles, causing more difficulty in recruitment, meaning companies across the UK must look to improve profitability and productivity with fewer staff than before”.
To solve this skills gap, there needs to be deeper engagement between government, employers and the education system to produce a talent pipeline that can sustain a thriving UK economy, adds Baxter. “The IET has already started engaging with government by calling for the embedding of engineering in the existing science, technology and mathematics learning in the curriculum.”
And the problem is not likely to improve any time soon. CRME’s Dean and Bentman cite research from Frost & Sullivan that indicates the UK facilities management industry is predicted to grow by 18.43% by 2027 (versus its 2022 size). “This growth will inevitably generate many new job opportunities for skilled facilities professionals,” they confirm. “Not only does this leave a sizeable skill gap that needs to be filled by new engineers, but it also leaves large skills shortages as retirees take specialist knowledge with them. These factors present both a risk and an opportunity for the facilities management industry; one that the industry needs to collaborate on to solve.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
What the duo would like to see across engineering is measurable action. And they offer six CBRE solutions for how the facilities management industry can – and, they say, is already working to – close the engineering skills gap:
Apprentices, graduates and next generation: increase engineering’s attractiveness Focus on retention to address the skills gap Double down on upskilling Improve career pathways and better incentives for more responsibility Increase diversity in engineering workforce Embrace innovation and new technologies.
Dean and Bentman accept that it can be challenging to attract young talent into technical delivery roles to support the current population of technical engineers. “But there is also a need to provide non-graduates and other candidates coming into the industry as facility managers with new skills and tools to meet changing client demands. It is crucial for the industry to increase its investment in next-generation talent.”
To solve the shortfall in young people choosing engineering and technical services as a career path, more energy must be focused on reaching potential candidates at a younger age. “This means showcasing engineering and facilities management as an attractive career path and presenting apprenticeships on a level-pegging with other post-school routes,” says Dean. “Apprenticeships offer hands-on skills training and are an attractive prospect, compared to university routes towards vocations.
“When looking at apprentices, on average in the UK, apprentice outputs surpass the costs associated with training, ultimately delivering a net benefit to employers during their training,” he adds. “Apprentices ensure employers can develop the necessary new skills and the soft skills that they need to match the industry’s current and future goals, which means it’s an investment in the future of facilities management.”