In facilities management, time isn’t just money – it’s smooth operations, happy tenants, and compliant buildings. Yet, ask any FM manager, and they’ll tell you: long hiring cycles are a nightmare.
Vacant positions sit empty for months. Teams are stretched thin. Maintenance issues pile up. Tenants notice. These are the real facilities management hiring challenges organizations face every day – and they quietly drain productivity and profits.
why fm hiring can take months
Hiring in facilities management isn’t simple. It’s not like filling a generic office role. Organizations face unique facilities management hiring challenges that slow the process:
- Talent Shortage: Skilled FM professionals are retiring, while the demand for digital and technical expertise skyrockets.
- Role Complexity: Specialized positions in smart building tech, predictive maintenance, or sustainability require rare expertise.
- Seniority Level: Mid-senior roles often take 60 days to fill; executive positions can stretch 120 days or more.
- Tech Skills Gap: With smart buildings and data-driven FM, tech-savvy candidates are in short supply.
- Location & Competition: Some markets are more competitive, extending hiring timelines.
- Company Reputation & Process: Long, multi-stage interviews can scare off top talent.
When these factors combine, it’s no wonder FM positions can sit vacant for months. And every day that goes by without the right hire costs your team more than you think.
CBRE: How to Beat FM Hiring Challenges
Take CBRE, for example. They faced tough facilities management hiring challenges but turned the process around. By partnering with Boden Talent, CBRE filled critical engineering and technical positions in just 4–6 weeks.
The secret? Streamlined processes, expert candidate sourcing, and a recruitment partner who understood both the technical skills required and the market realities. Operations stayed smooth, tenants stayed satisfied and the team wasn’t stretched to the breaking point.
How Specialist Recruiters Solve FM Hiring Challenges
Recruiters who focus on facilities management bring a serious advantage:
- Market Expertise: They understand the FM industry inside and out—salary trends, role requirements, competitors, and hiring best practices—so your recruitment strategy is informed and realistic.
- Talent Access: They can proactively headhunt top FM professionals, tapping into both active and passive candidates who may not be applying elsewhere, giving you access to a broader, higher-quality talent pool.
- Streamlined Process: By managing initial screening and early interviews, they cut weeks off your hiring timeline.
- Less Internal Burden: Your HR and FM teams stay focused on operations instead of endless interviews.
Partnering with a specialist recruiter doesn’t just fill roles faster – it removes the stress and frustration from your team.
Fast-Tracking Your FM Hiring
Even with a recruiter, companies can take steps to beat these facilities management hiring challenges internally:
- Create precise job specifications: Clearly outline the skills and experience you need to attract the right candidates.
- Automate administrative tasks: Use software to schedule interviews, send updates, and reduce manual workload.
- Keep candidates engaged: Timely, transparent communication throughout the hiring process keeps top talent interested.
- Showcase your culture and brand: Every interaction, from your job description to the interview itself, is an opportunity to demonstrate what it’s like to work at your company. Candidates notice how you treat them, how your team communicates, and how your values come across. A strong employer brand can significantly shorten time-to-hire by making your organization more attractive to high-quality talent.
- Build a talent pipeline: Maintain relationships with potential candidates even before roles open so you can move quickly when a position becomes available.
By not just hiring efficiently but selling your company as a place people want to work, you address one of the subtler, but very real, facilities management hiring challenges: attracting and retaining the best talent in a competitive market.
The Bottom Line
Long hiring cycles in FM aren’t just inconvenient—they’re costly. From operational slowdowns to lost opportunities to losing top candidates, the ripple effects are real.
The solution? Recognize the facilities management hiring challenges your organization faces, work with a specialist recruiter, and streamline your internal process. CBRE’s example proves it’s possible to go from months-long vacancies to fully staffed teams in weeks.
Is there a facilities management role in your team that’s taking too long to fill? Register your vacancy with Boden Talent today. We’ll work with you to streamline your recruitment process, headhunt top talent, and reduce your time-to-hire, so your FM team stays fully staffed and your operations run smoothly.