Exhibitors at the French facilities management and outsourcing show, Externaliser 2001, had mixed views about its status.
'Facilities management in France is not considered to be very professional at all,' said Michel Lagrave, president at Damier-Chesterton Workplace Management, the recently launched joint venture between Chesterton Workplace Management and Paris-based fit-out firm Damier.
Lagrave said that in some instances the job is still seen as being similar to the role of a janitor.
So strategic advisor or caretaker? According to Lagrave the answer can often been determined by the way your job title is spelt.
In France, job titles and company names containing facility are associated with management roles, while facilities, refers to blue-collar workers.
Serco France painted a different picture. Company quality manager Georges Nguyen said a facilities manager's status is changing slowly as more companies go to the market to get help running non-core operations.
'I have been inundated by students studying for undergraduate and masters degrees in facilities management who are looking for internships with Serco,' he said.
At the exhibition, held at CNIT-Paris La Defense, on 21-23 November, Nguyen said he had been approached by students from Marne La Vallee, a university on the East side of Paris. He noted that although the number of students looking for internships is rising, most people still come to facilities management via M&E, space planning and architecture.
Nguyen said the market for facilities management outsourcing has developed slowly as a result of companies' 'reluctance to delegate', which he believes is 'purely a matter of habit.
' There is a very clear sign that the outsourcing market is growing up and this is shown by the increased number of competitors,' he said.
Nguyen and Lagrave cited Elyo, Vivendi (Dalkia Energy) and Turner FM as other big players in the French market today.
Source
The Facilities Business
