Facilities Management Salary Survey 2016
Resource type and category
Resource type: Salary survey / industry research report
Category: Facilities Management Salaries, FM Market Insights, Recruitment Research and Career Resources
Intended audience
Facilities Managers, Heads of Facilities, FM Directors, Regional and Multi-Site Facilities Managers, Property and Estates professionals, HR teams, Talent Acquisition professionals and employers interested in historical UK Facilities Management salaries and workforce trends.
Resource-card description
Explore the Maxwell Stephens Facilities Management Salary Survey 2016, based on more than 1,250 FM professionals and covering salaries, benefits, qualifications, careers and workplace trends across the UK.
Full resource-page description
The Facilities Management Salary Survey 2016 provides a detailed historical snapshot of salaries, careers and working life across the UK Facilities Management profession.
More than 1,250 Facilities Management professionals participated in the research—more than twice the number involved in Maxwell Stephens’ 2014 survey. The report was designed to help both employees and employers compare remuneration, qualifications, professional development, job satisfaction and wider working conditions across the sector.
The findings point to an FM market in which pay was continuing to rise, permanent employment remained strong and competition for experienced talent was increasing.
At the same time, the survey demonstrates that remuneration alone did not determine whether people were attracted to a role or remained with an employer. Interesting work, challenge, responsibility, career progression and recognition all feature prominently throughout the report.
A large historical snapshot of the FM profession
The scale of the survey is one of its strengths.
Maxwell Stephens received responses from over 1,250 FM professionals, compared with 568 respondents in its 2014 study.
The research covers professionals at different levels of seniority and across a broad range of industries, regions and Facilities Management specialisms.
This makes the report useful not simply as a historical salary guide, but as a wider record of how people were experiencing careers in Facilities Management in 2016.
Gender representation
The survey found that Facilities Management remained heavily male dominated.
79.5% of respondents were male and 20.5% female.
Female participation had therefore fallen slightly from the 23% recorded in Maxwell Stephens’ 2014 survey.
The data provides a useful historical benchmark for examining how gender representation within Facilities Management has developed since the mid-2010s.
Age of the FM workforce
The age profile continued to show the importance of experienced professionals.
The largest group—37.6%—was aged 45–54.
A further 24.4% were aged 35–44 and 18.5% were 55–64.
By comparison, just 1.7% were aged 18–24.
The findings reinforce a recurring issue identified in Maxwell Stephens’ earlier surveys: relatively small numbers of younger professionals were entering the industry compared with the number of established, highly experienced FM practitioners.
Employment status
Permanent employment remained dominant.
89.7% of respondents were permanently employed, while 6.9% worked in temporary or interim positions and 3.4% were unemployed or taking a career break.
This indicates a relatively stable employment market at the time, despite the report also finding considerable willingness among existing employees to consider moving organisations.
Qualifications within Facilities Management
The report explores the continuing debate around qualifications versus practical experience.
Around 61.9% of participants held at least an HNC/HND or equivalent level of qualification, although this had fallen from the 64% recorded in 2014.
The breakdown on page 7 includes GCSE/A Level, HNC/HND, degree, honours degree, Master’s degree, MBA and PhD-level qualifications.
Maxwell Stephens interpreted the gradual fall in the overall educational profile as a possible sign that the FM employment market was becoming more accessible to people with fewer formal academic qualifications.
IOSH and NEBOSH
Professional and health and safety qualifications remained particularly important.
47.3% of respondents held IOSH and 35.2% held NEBOSH qualifications.
The report describes these qualifications as continuing to act as important benchmarks of competence for FM employers.
Other qualifications represented included what were then BIFM FM qualifications, NVQs, ILM and construction-related qualifications.
Because professional bodies and qualification structures have changed since publication, this section should be treated as a historical record rather than current qualification guidance.
How valuable were qualifications?
More than 70% of respondents believed qualifications had contributed in some way to securing their first Facilities Management position.
The breakdown was:
15.3% extremely valuable, 26.8% valuable, 29.1% somewhat valuable and 28.8% not valuable.
Qualifications appeared to become more important later in respondents’ careers.
For their most recent appointment, 17.5% considered qualifications extremely valuable, 31.3% valuable and 27.9% somewhat valuable, while 23.3% considered them not valuable.
The report therefore suggests that professional qualifications could acquire greater value as an FM career progressed.
Professional memberships
BIFM—now IWFM—was the dominant professional membership represented in the survey.
62.6% of respondents reported BIFM membership, compared with more than 70% in the first Maxwell Stephens survey.
Other recorded bodies included RICS, CIOB and CIBSE.
The report also observed a distinction between career levels, with senior professionals generally more likely to hold multiple professional memberships than junior employees.
Why people chose a career in Facilities Management
Variety remained the strongest attraction.
65.4% of respondents selected work variety as something that attracted them to Facilities Management.
Career progression was selected by 31.5% and personal interest by 24.6%.
Salary was selected by only 12.7%, almost identical to the 13% recorded in 2014.
The figures show that, although FM could offer strong earning potential, people were particularly attracted to the sector because of its breadth, challenge and opportunity to progress.
Experience within Facilities Management
The survey reveals an experienced workforce.
Only 14.3% had worked in FM for five years or less, while more than 85% had at least six years in the profession.
Most notably, 26.9% had more than 20 years of Facilities Management experience, up from around 23% in 2014.
The report notes that professionals with more than 20 years’ experience tended to occupy senior positions such as Director and Head of Facilities Management roles.
What benefits mattered when changing jobs?
Pension provision remained the most important employee benefit when considering a new position.
72% selected pension, while 62% selected annual leave.
Health insurance and bonus or commission arrangements were each selected by just over half of respondents.
Flexible working was important to 43.3%, providing an interesting historical indicator of the growing importance of flexibility even before the major changes to working practices that occurred in later years.
Car allowance, life insurance, paid overtime, share incentives and gym membership also featured.
Job satisfaction
Overall satisfaction was high.
24.1% described themselves as very satisfied and 56.2% fairly satisfied, meaning more than 80% expressed a positive view of their current position.
Only 4.3% said they were not at all satisfied.
The survey nevertheless found that high satisfaction did not necessarily translate into long-term loyalty to the same employer.
Willingness to change employer
Despite high levels of job satisfaction, 54.7% of respondents were fairly or very likely to change employer within the following 12 months.
Only 12.1% said they were not at all likely to move.
Maxwell Stephens linked this mobility to increasing competition between organisations for experienced FM professionals.
For employers, it reinforces the importance of retention, career development and the overall employee proposition—not simply salary.
Where professionals expected their next role to come from
Recruitment agencies remained the single most frequently expected source of the next career move.
34.9% expected their next opportunity to come through a recruitment agency.
A further 22.2% expected to make a direct application and 20.5% anticipated an internal move.
Headhunting accounted for 13%, while social media and word of mouth represented smaller proportions.
The report also highlights the particular relevance of headhunting for senior FM leaders.
What FM professionals valued in their careers
The 2016 survey found that salary had returned to the top of the career-priority rankings.
75.1% selected salary, followed closely by interesting and engaging work at 67.8%.
However, the wider findings show that professionals valued a broad range of factors:
job security, challenging work, responsibility, recognition, holiday entitlement, company culture, benefits, location, career prospects and training and development.
This gives employers an important historical lesson: competitive salaries mattered, but retaining talented Facilities Management professionals required a much broader employment proposition.
Regional distribution
London represented 44.9% of respondents, with the South East accounting for a further 12.5%.
The survey itself acknowledges that London was likely to be over-represented because of Maxwell Stephens’ business activity in the capital.
Other represented regions included the North West, Midlands, South West, Scotland, East of England, North East, Wales and Northern Ireland, while 5.2% of respondents had a national remit.
This qualification is important when interpreting the survey’s geographical findings.
Total FM remained dominant
53.1% of respondents specialised in Total FM.
Soft FM represented 12.7%, Hard FM 10.2% and Building or Shopping Centre Management 14.4%.
Consultancy accounted for 4.1%.
The report highlights employers’ preference for professionals with knowledge across both hard and soft services.
It also gives an average basic salary of £46,000 for Total FM professionals within the 2016 survey.
Industries employing FM professionals
Property and Real Estate remained the largest employer represented in the survey at 20.8%.
However, this had fallen from 30% in 2012.
Finance, Banking & Insurance represented 10.5%, while respondents were also drawn from Education, Charity, Healthcare, Government, Engineering, Retail, Transport, IT, Energy and other sectors.
The report interpreted this broader spread as evidence that more organisations were developing their own internal FM functions.
That increasing demand was expected to intensify competition for experienced talent.
Seniority of respondents
The survey contained a substantial proportion of senior FM professionals.
25.7% worked in Regional or Multi-Site Facilities Management roles, making this the largest category.
A further 23.3% were Directors or Heads of FM, 18% were Single-Site Facilities Managers and 16% were Senior Facilities Managers at headquarters or trophy sites.
Facilities Supervisors, Facilities Assistants, Office Managers and engineering-related positions made up the remainder.
This senior representation adds useful context when interpreting the salary and career data.
Why professionals joined their current employer
A fresh challenge was the most common reason for moving into the current position, selected by 34.6% of respondents.
Career advancement or a more senior role followed at 25%.
By contrast, only 14.1% said improved salary and benefits were the principal attraction.
Once again, the findings demonstrate that the opportunity to grow and take on greater responsibility could be as important as financial reward when attracting FM professionals.
Length of service
Movement between organisations was relatively common.
18.9% had been with their current employer for less than one year and 24.1% for between one and three years.
That means 43% had three years’ service or less.
At the other end, 23.9% had been with their employer for five to ten years and 16.3% for more than a decade.
The report viewed this mobility in the context of growing competition for experienced FM professionals.
Facilities Management salary distribution
The largest salary group in the 2016 survey earned £36,000–£45,000, representing 24.1% of respondents.
A further 21.9% earned £46,000–£60,000 and 19.4% earned £26,000–£35,000.
At the higher end, 12.4% earned £61,000–£75,000, 8.6% £76,000–£90,000 and 6.3% £91,000 or more.
Only 7.4% earned up to £25,000.
The report contrasts this with its 2014 findings and concludes that more professionals were moving into higher salary bands.
These figures are, of course, historical 2016 salary data and should not be presented as current market rates.
Salary growth
Pay growth was widespread.
68.4% reported that their salary had risen during the previous 12 months.
A further 28.3% said it had remained unchanged and only 3.3% reported a decline.
Respondents were similarly optimistic about the future.
67.2% expected their salary to increase over the following 12 months, compared with 29.9% expecting no change and just 2.9% expecting a fall.
Salary and the cost of living
The survey also asked respondents whether their salary covered their cost of living.
72.7% said yes, while 27.3% said no.
The report raises this as a potential factor behind continued employee movement, despite generally strong salary growth and high job satisfaction.
Did employees think they were fairly paid?
Opinion was almost perfectly divided.
50.4% believed their salary accurately reflected the role they carried out, while 49.6% believed it did not.
For employers, this was a significant finding.
Nearly half the workforce represented believed their responsibilities were not being reflected adequately in their remuneration, while competition for experienced FM talent was increasing.
Working hours
Facilities Management continued to involve demanding working patterns.
48.5% worked between 41 and 50 hours per week.
Another 18.5% worked 51–60 hours and 5.2% exceeded 60 hours.
Together, 23.7% were working more than 50 hours per week.
Only just over 1% reported working 30 hours or less.
Unsociable hours
Working outside conventional hours remained part of FM life.
34.6% said they were regularly required to work unsociable hours, while 57.7% said this occurred rarely.
Only 7.7% said they were never required to do so.
This helps explain why annual leave, pensions and other employee benefits featured so prominently elsewhere in the survey.
Benefits as part of remuneration
For most respondents, benefits represented a relatively small proportion of the overall package.
50.5% said benefits accounted for 0–5% of total remuneration, with another 22.8% reporting 6–10%.
At the upper end, 3.4% received 21–25% of remuneration through benefits and 2.7% received more than 25%.
The report notes that the proportion of remuneration delivered through benefits tended to increase alongside salary.
Benefits employees actually received
Annual leave and pensions dominated the benefit packages.
83.6% received annual leave and 83.4% received pension provision.
Health insurance was provided to 53.5%, bonus or commission schemes to 47.3% and life insurance to 45.9%.
Flexible working was available to 33.2%, while 33% received a company car or car allowance.
This section provides a particularly useful historical benchmark for comparing how the FM employee proposition has evolved since 2016.
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