Unfortunately this can be an area where simplistic cost reduction can have dramatic and unintended consequences. Large areas of facilities spend may be contractually or legally committed as a result of property agreements, service contracts or taxation. Health, safety or environmental regulation compliance may be compromised by uninformed budget cuts. Wholesale lowering of service levels can directly affect operational resilience, risk or productivity or may indirectly impact upon morale, absenteeism or corporate reputation.
These same issues arose during the brief recessions of the 1970s and 1980s. The pressures of these led to dramatic changes in the way facilities were managed and are often cited as the catalysts behind the development of today’s FM profession. The trend towards the outsourcing of noncore services, the move to open plan working and creation of a new breed of managers with sole responsibility for the stewardship of the workplace agenda were all accelerated by the economic pressures of the time.