January 23, 2008—The 2008 job outlook for real estate professionals—particularly in the commercial sector—remains positive, says a new survey conducted by FPL Advisory Group, one of the industrys leading strategic recruitment and advisory firms.
According to Bill Ferguson, FPL’s co-Chairman and co-CEO, two-thirds of senior US real estate executives responding to his firm’s annual hiring and compensation survey expect to add staff in 2008. And while double-digit compensation increases will become less common, the vast majority of respondents do expect pay levels to increase at least moderately across the industry.
Approximately 75 percent of survey respondents who identify themselves as Commercial Ownership/Services Firms intend to increase their ranks in 2008, despite continuing uncertainty in the financial markets. Another 17 percent anticipate no change in headcount and just 5 percent in this category plan to reduce staff.
Notably, those firms that will be actively hiring are putting heavy emphasis on people and positions aimed at enhancing the core value of their operations. Top priorities include asset/portfolio management and property management functions. However, there still is significant demand for talent to support acquisitions, development and other growth functions.
Particularly surprising is the finding that nearly half of all commercial mortgage firms surveyed intend to hire new staff even despite the recent slowdown in lending.
Across all real estate sectors, survey respondents indicate that investment boards will be most highly focused on company performance and oversight of corporate strategy, consistent with commercial real estates 2008 recruitment trends.
FPL Advisory Group surveyed top US real estate executives about their expected hiring and compensation strategies for 2008. The survey generated and analyzed 275 responses from professionals, including CEOs and other senior-level executives from companies active primarily in commercial property investment, commercial mortgage lending and single-family homebuilding, along with a sampling of respondents from investment banks, real estate investment trusts, major corporate real estate departments and pension funds actively investing in the real estate sector. The full survey report is available online.
