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OFFICE SPACE 2022 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
LABOUR CHALLENGES Property management sector struggles to find workers
GLEN KORSTROM
B
eing a property manager or building operator could be the hidden gem of a career within the real estate industry. The problem for employers is that opportunities in that field mostly fly under the radar.
Mention a career in real estate, and many people are likely to imagine being a realtor — not someone who oversees building operations or takes care of properties. Property management, however, is a stable profession. It pays well, offers room for advancement and offers plenty of personal interaction, say those in the industry. It is also a profession that is set to be increasingly in demand in the years ahead. The B.C. government’s 2021 Labour Market Outlook estimated 5,450 job openings for maintenance managers and facility operators in the next decade. In addition, the report listed 4,350 job openings for property administrators, also by 2031. “Those roles have been identified as ‘high opportunity,’ because there’s so many openings that the province is expecting between now and 2029,” says Building Owners and Managers Association of British Columbia (BOMA BC) president Damian Stathonikos. “Like most industries, our sector is getting older. So you’re starting to see a lot of people retiring.” B.C. issued a record $3.3 billion worth of building permits in 2019, with most of that value located in Vancouver and Victoria. Between 2015 and 2018, two million square feet of office space was added to the Vancouver market, according to BOMA BC data. Stathonikos expects construction to stay strong as COVID-19 morphs into an endemic disease, and workers return to offices. That will mean more demand for property managers, who oversee commercial building operations to ensure that sites meet legal standards, and for building operators who provide stewardship of the sites. Stathonikos says the jobs appeal to people who like personal interaction, as there is a lot of communication with tenants in buildings. The jobs also are a good fit for people who like working with their hands, and who want to work in indoor environments. Jobs are also attractive because skills are portable — buildings across the country need to be maintained and overseen. Despite these perks, Stathonikos says industry executives are struggling to recruit needed workers. That is prompting BOMA BC to plan to work with the B.C.
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Building Owners and Managers Association of British Columbia (BOMA BC) president Damian Stathonikos plans to start reaching out to Indigenous youth to encourage them to embark on property management careers • CHUNG CHOW
2022-05-10 11:18 AM
