When your FM team is growing faster than you can hire.

Let’s be honest… It’s busy out there

If you listen to the news, you’d think everything’s on fire. Yet every day I speak to Facilities Management clients who are busier than ever and are holding it all together.

The latest IWFM 2025 Market Outlook Survey actually backs that up. There’s a real sense of optimism in FM right now, and rightly so. Teams are working hard and still finding room to grow.

We’ve seen the same from our clients across the UK, they’re recruiting, expanding, investing, and still taking on the daily madness that only an FM professional truly understands.

So, let’s take a realistic look at the state of FM in 2025. There’s good news, a few headaches, and a big reason why flexibility has never been more valuable.

The good stuff no one’s talking about

The IWFM survey paints a clear picture:

• 42% of organisations have increased their workspace investment

• 33% have grown the size of their space under management

• Budgets are (finally) heading upwards compared to 2024

There’s a noticeable focus on skills, carbon reduction, and technology investment. And that last one’s not just fancy tech for the sake of it, it’s about improving day to day life on site.

What I love about FM people is they don’t boast. Most of them are too busy getting stuff done before anyone even realises there was a problem.

If you work in this world, you know the feeling: when the lift breaks, the air con stops, the fire alarm goes off and the client wants to move in by Monday… all before your first coffee.

FM teams quietly deal with it all. And they’re doing it now with bigger sites, bigger responsibilities, and thankfully, slightly bigger budgets.

Of course, there’s always a catch

Let’s not pretend everything’s perfect. The same survey showed that skills shortages are still biting. Hard.

Recruitment is the single biggest challenge our clients talk about, more than rising costs, more than sustainability. It’s the people.

We’ve had more calls this year than I can count that start like this: "Hi Hayley… we’re all good, but we’ve just realised we need a Project Manager by Thursday. Any ideas?"

The answer is always yes. But it underlines the pressure FM teams are under. Even the most organised mobilisation plans get curveballs.

Then there’s the usual balancing act: rising costs, squeezed public sector budgets, and the constant push to do more with less. It’s the FM way, right?

Where interim really comes into it's own

This is where interim recruitment earns its stripes. We’re seeing more clients lean into using interim FM professionals to take the pressure off, especially during mobilisation projects or sudden growth.

Interim can mean:

• Covering for an unexpected gap

• Providing extra help for mobilisation “day one” readiness

• Filling temporary leadership roles

We had one client recently calmly tell me at 4 pm on a Thursday: "Everything’s ready for handover tomorrow… apart from the small detail that we don’t have a Facilities Manager yet."

We sorted it. They slept better. That’s the job.

Interim isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about giving brilliant FM teams breathing room when something (inevitably) pops up at the worst time.

My advice for the rest of 2025

The facilities world in 2025 feels positive, but no one’s under any illusions. The organisations we work with aren’t sat back relaxing. They’re grafting, firefighting, and delivering day in, day out.

If you’re building an FM team this year, my advice is simple: Plan for the surprises. Because there will be surprises. They usually show up at 4:55pm on a Friday, just as you’re about to leave.

And when that happens? We’ll be here.