by Shane Henson — December 19, 2012—Facilities management (FM) and corporate real estate (CRE) professionals are in increasing demand in China as they will play a central role in the design and planning of the growth of the country’s mostly state-owned, national corporations, according to research published by CoreNet Global in its January 2013 edition of THE LEADER magazine.
A new approach to FM is emerging in China, one in which strategic building management contributes to a more valuable organization, says CoreNet Global, an association for CRE and workplace professionals, service providers and economic developers. The role of the facilities manager and the plans in place will become more and more strategic in nature as FM influences all aspects of the workplace. These goals include sustainability, energy efficiency and increased worker productivity.
“Facilities management is a burgeoning industry making inroads across the country,” the report states.
One reason is that by the year 2050, China is expected to build as many as 50 new cities that don’t exist today. CoreNet Global cites China’s current Five Year Plan, which is based on inclusive growth and economic prosperity across a broader segment of the country’s 1.3-billion people. This includes China’s historically prosperous coastal cities, as well as its more economically challenged interior cities.
According to report author Melissa Securda, director of knowledge and research at CoreNet Global, “A new approach to FM is emerging in China; one in which strategic building management contributes to a more valuable (corporate) organization. The role of facilities managers…will become more and more strategic in nature as FM influences all aspects of the (Chinese) workplace.”
China’s business evolution “is making larger strides” because CRE, a more strategic version of FM, is driven in large part by multinational corporations that are beginning to instill their best-in-class global management practices across China’s vast economic landscape. CoreNet Global says its research shows that many companies rely on outsourced partners because of the lack of internal expertise, adding that a panel of Chinese facilities managers told Securda that the lack of available, skilled FM talent is the most pressing issue they face.
