November 9, 2007—A new survey of facility managers, Profiles 2007, conducted by Building Operating Management and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), found a significant increase in FM salaries.
Base salaries for newcomers with less than four years of experience was reported at $63,000, a significant jump from a similar IFMA salary survey conducted in 2003, which reported the base salary as $56,000.
One potential explanation is that aging workers are retiring, creating demand at the bottom that is driving up salaries. Workers who were at least 45 years old grew from 62 percent in 2003 to 68 percent in 2007. Workers at least 55 years old also grew. Those 55 or older increased from 20 to 25 percent.
Meanwhile the proportion of younger workers shrank. Workers aged 35-44 declined from 30 percent to 25 percent. Workers under the age of 35 also declined, but by a smaller amount—from 9 percent to 7 percent.
Those numbers highlight what industry observers have long known: The industry is facing a huge shift as older, highly experienced workers begin migrating out of the workforce.
The Profiles 2007 report contains a variety of salary and demographic information of FM professionals. Salary information is often reported using the median. Split into five sections, the first two parts profile various types of FM professionals and highlights factors that affect compensation. The last two chapters break down compensation by management level and by geographic region. A final chapter includes job descriptions for various positions in the field.
The survey was sent to 12,744 IFMA members and 49,939 subscribers of Building Operating Management. A total of 4,600 facility professionals completed the survey. Survey information was collected online from July 6 to July 23, 2007.
The report can be purchased online at the IFMA Web site.
