Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
As the U.S. faces a historic skilled trades labor shortage, the Lowe’s Foundation has announced the Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition to help train and develop 1 million people for skilled trades careers by 2035. The national alliance is backed by over 75 American educators, businesses, workforce organizations, industry vendors, and stakeholders across the skilled […]
The National Fire Protection Associations (NFPA) has released its fourth annual industry survey report. The survey found that skilled trade workers are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools, while recognizing continued investment in training, professional development, and industry collaboration will be critical to meeting heightened work demands amid ongoing workforce shortages. Conducted at the 2026 NFPA […]
Editor’s note: FM Perspectives are industry op-eds. The views expressed are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Facilities Management Advisor. If you manage a big portfolio of buildings, you know exactly who I’m talking about. These are the veteran engineers who can walk into a mechanical room, listen for half a minute, and immediately […]
Ask a facilities manager what they do, and the honest answer in 2026 sounds less like building operations and more like air traffic control. A typical morning means lining up an HVAC contractor, chasing a quote that was promised last week, approving an invoice, fielding a tenant complaint about a meeting room, confirming a fire […]
Facilities Management Advisor’s “Under Construction” series highlights some of the latest, most interesting facility project announcements every month. Smart Factory for Futuristic Planes JetZero, an aerospace startup developing futuristic “all-wing” commercial and military aircraft, has broken ground on a massive smart factory on more than 600 acres in North Carolina. The 8 million square-foot facility represents […]
Facilities Management Advisor’s “Under Construction” series highlights some of the latest, most interesting facility project announcements every month. New NFL Stadium NFL games might be over for now, but a number of football teams (including the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars) are currently working on major stadium projects during the offseason. In Ohio, the Cleveland […]
In facilities management, the term “firefighting” gets used a lot. Sometimes it is said with pride. Sometimes with frustration. Usually both. It describes the daily scramble to deal with leaks, outages, complaints, failed equipment, last-minute shutdowns, vendor delays, and emergencies that seem to arrive all at once. It is an “us against them” kind of […]
Editor’s note: FM Perspectives are industry op-eds. The views expressed are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Facilities Management Advisor. In 2026, the skilled trades are facing a reality check that is impossible to ignore: A significant rift has opened between the priorities of organizational leaders and the priorities of their employees, especially as […]
On this latest episode of FMA Shorts, Carolyn McGary, an educator and national director of FM Pipeline Team Inc., discusses ways to recruit young talent as the facilities management industry faces a workforce crisis. This clip was taken from a webinar titled, “Bridging the Gap: Next-Gen Workforce Development in Facilities Management.” The full session is available […]
As the United States grapples with aging building stock and the need for infrastructure modernization, a critical workforce challenge threatens the commercial real estate sector’s ability to maintain, modernize, and operate the built environment. JLL’s latest skilled trades talent research reveals that by 2030, an estimated 2.1 million skilled trades positions for electricians, HVAC technicians, […]