JLL Releases Global State of Facilities Management Report 2025: What FM Leaders Must Know

The facilities management (FM) landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. No longer a purely operational or cost-driven function, FM is emerging as a strategic enabler, shaping workplace experiences, operational resilience, and long-term enterprise value. The trends highlighted in JLL’s Global State of Facilities Management Report 2025 underscore this shift—and offer a roadmap for facility managers navigating economic volatility, technological disruption, and workforce pressures.

Transforming Facilities Management from Cost Center to Strategic Partner

For decades, FM has been seen primarily as a cost center. That perception is changing.

JLL's report underscores a growing concern around of economic uncertainty and rising operational costs that places unprecedented pressure on organizations—84% of FM leaders cite budget constraints as a top concern—facility managers are being asked to deliver more than operational reliability: they must drive efficiency, resilience, and occupant satisfaction simultaneously.

"Facilities management is no longer to be viewed as a mere cost center, but a strategic business partner that fortifies resilience, fuels productivity, and ultimately creates a competitive advantage," said Paul Morgan, Global COO, Real Estate Management Services at JLL. 

Consolidating vendor contracts, leveraging self-delivery capabilities, and embedding technology to optimize workflows are now standard strategies. But cost control alone is insufficient. The most successful FM organizations are adopting a holistic approach that balances financial stewardship with human-centric priorities, recognizing that the workplace experience directly impacts engagement, productivity, and retention.

Operational Resilience Strategies for Mission-Critical Facilities

Mission-critical environments—from data centers to hospitals—demand a level of operational reliability that goes beyond routine maintenance. Business continuity planning, cybersecurity safeguards, and energy supply reliability are emerging as top risk management priorities. Facility managers are increasingly responsible for bridging immediate operational needs with long-term strategic resilience.

One striking insight: 30% of organizations are prioritizing energy supply reliability and backup power systems, while 34% are enhancing cybersecurity protections for smart building systems. These investments underscore the evolving role of FM—not just protecting assets but ensuring uninterrupted business operations and occupant safety.

"Future-proof your facilities management by shifting it from a defensive cost function to a core offensive engine for competitive advantage," said Wei Xie, Global Head of Research and Strategy, Workplace Management at JLL. 

Facility managers must align their daily operations with the company's goals like preventative maintenance, lifecycle strategies, and supply-chain resilience as a need for reliability and continuity rank atop priorities. Per the report, 60% of surveyed participants said the foremost risk management priority for facility managers is business continuity planning for critical operations. Such findings indicate how one operational failure can reflect needs to address deferred maintenance that effects systems and moves toward future-proof critical systems.

Leveraging Technology and AI to Enhance FM Efficiency and Insight

Artificial intelligence is no longer an experimental tool in FM. By fall 2025, 28% of organizations have embedded AI solutions across operations, with adoption rates rising to 46% in large enterprises. AI-driven asset lifecycle management, predictive maintenance, and automated work order tracking are delivering measurable operational gains.

Wei Xie, Head of Strategy and Research, Workplace Management, at JLL shared how AI turns building and asset data into real-time insights and predictive analytics so FMs can more proactively diagnose and address operational concerns.

"By automating high-volume administrative and repetitive tasks, AI can free up managers and technicians to have more strategic interactions with stakeholders and focus on more complex work, ultimately driving innovation and delivering higher value for clients," said Xie. "Supercharging AI and technology in FM will not only elevate performance and job satisfaction of current FM professionals but also help attract the next generation of digitally native talent to the industry, which is critical to address mounting workforce challenges."

Facility managers now face a dual challenge: selecting technologies that provide immediate operational returns while ensuring integration with legacy systems and maintaining data quality and security. The winners in this space will be those who combine AI with practical workflows, enabling teams to focus on high-impact, value-added activities rather than administrative tasks.

Workforce Development and Human-Centric Facilities Management

The FM workforce is aging, and skilled labor shortages threaten industry growth. Nearly 39% of U.S. facility managers are over 55, and the labor gap is particularly acute in specialized trades. Forward-thinking organizations are investing in succession planning, cross-training, and technology-enabled augmentation to attract younger, digitally native talent.

"FM leaders should position themselves as proficient risk managers and be adept at building enterprise resilience," said Xie. "This can be accomplished by developing integrated risk management strategies that address a wide range of near-term and long-term vulnerabilities, such as workforce contingency planning, cybersecurity for smart building systems, energy sourcing reliability, and sustainability."

The next generation of facility managers must embrace both technical acumen and a human-centric approach. Success will increasingly hinge on the ability to integrate operational excellence, strategic insight, and a hospitality-minded focus on occupant wellbeing.

Survey respondents’ prioritization of occupant wellbeing and workplace safety, demonstrates FM’s impact beyond bricks and mortar and its evolution toward human-centric operations. This focus directly impacts core business value, with JLL’s 2025 Workforce Preference Barometer showing an 84% correlation between positive workplace experiences and favorable attitudes toward office attendance.
 
“The next generation of facilities managers must incorporate a hospitality mindset that enhances user experience to deliver safety, comfort, convenience and wellness benefits—ultimately elevating brand value,” said Christian Whitaker, Global Head of Technical Services and Sustainability at JLL. “With the built environment responsible for 42% of global carbon emissions, sustainability initiatives can improve energy efficiencies, reduce emissions, lower costs and improve resiliency while also supporting occupant wellbeing.”

Whitaker further explained that integration of sustainability metrics for all CRE lifecycle decision nodes from site selection, design, and equipment selection help reduce life-cycle carbon emissions. This proactive approach to sustainable objectives yields the most cost-effective outcomes, compared to retro-actively reacting to needs. 

Expanding FM Metrics: Occupant Experience and Strategic Impact

Traditional FM metrics—response times, service-level achievements, and asset uptime—remain essential, but the evaluation of FM performance is expanding. JLL's report reveals the top three FM priorities for the coming year are cost efficiency and budget optimization; operational reliability and resilience, and occupant wellbeing and workplace safety.

Occupant satisfaction; workplace operational experience; and cost efficiency and budget optimization are now considered core indicators of a high-performing facility operation. Proactive asset maintenance and lifecycle management; and space utilization and workplace engagement rounded out the top five priorities. Facility managers who can demonstrate impact on human experience as well as operational efficiency position FM as a critical strategic partner, not just a support function.

Future-Focused FM: Strategy, Technology, and People

The convergence of economic pressures, AI-enabled transformation, and workforce challenges has created a pivotal moment for facilities management. FM leaders who can harmonize cost efficiency, operational resilience, and human-centric strategies will not only future-proof their organizations but also redefine the role of FM as a driver of competitive advantage.

For facility managers navigating the post-pandemic, tech-driven workplace, the message is clear: the future-ready FM operation is strategic, tech-enabled, and deeply attuned to the people who inhabit and experience the built environment.

"Human-centric FM focuses not merely on buildings and assets, but ultimately on occupant wellbeing and workplace experience to create high-performing workspaces," said Xie. "By enhancing the human experience, FM can directly impact space user engagement, satisfaction, and productivity, in turn elevating the corporate brand and delivering value to all business stakeholders including employees, customers and investors."

For more information, visit JLL's Occupier Services and Facilities Management pages.