FM industry in 2020 to be different: ISS

Sustainability will continue to be an important trend over the next decade, according to a study by FM service provider ISS. The study done in conjunction with The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS) is based on four scenarios where the basis of the research is a survey involving more than 300 senior executives from ISS and 50 specialists from the Global FM network.

The study predicts that the industry in 2020 will be very different from what it is today and the FM industry is professionalising while new technologies, regulations and customer requirements are reshaping the business.

Global warming, environmental challenges and resource scarcity remain topics of great interest for the FM and services industry. Sustainability challenges will include energy usage, water and waste management and indoor ecology.

Technological development will be shaped by several effects including: new material technologies, increased use of autonomous robotics, the internet and improved data collection, storage, analysis and data-mining.

ISS also believes sustainability and technological development have significant potential transformative roles in labour markets and impact on how the FM industry is organised.