The Challenge of Recruiting and Retaining Talent

Welcome back to my series on the hot topics that surfaced throughout my Fall 2025 conference marathon. Today, in our third post, we’re looking at a challenge nearly every institution is struggling with right now: finding and retaining talented people.

Hiring difficulties aren’t unique to facilities and asset management. I talk with leaders across almost every industry, and nearly all of them mention hiring challenges. But there are a couple of factors that make FM a tougher sell than some other fields.

We Don’t Have a Natural Talent Pipeline

Facilities and Asset Management simply aren’t careers people dream about as kids. I have yet to meet a smiling six-year-old declaring, “I want to be a Facility Manager when I grow up.” Most people I meet fell into the role unexpectedly. There isn’t a predictable pipeline of candidates waiting in line, and schools aren’t producing thousands of graduates each year the way they do in engineering, finance, or nursing.

Public Institutions Can’t Match Private Sector Pay

For publicly funded institutions, compensation is often the biggest hurdle. Universities and colleges can rarely match the headline salary numbers offered by the private sector. While work-life balance is usually better and benefits tend to be far more comprehensive, younger workers often focus on the salary first and everything else second.

A Creative Solution We’ve Found: SkillBridge

There’s no single answer to this problem, but at Roth IAMS we’ve found one incredibly effective tool—at least in the U.S.—that has helped us fill roles and bring in motivated, mission-driven people.

Thanks to Wayne Parsons at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, we were introduced to the SkillBridge Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense.

SkillBridge connects service members who are retiring or separating from the military with approved organizations that commit to a structured 4- to 6-month training program. During that period, the Department of Defense continues to pay their salary and benefits. Host organizations like Roth IAMS can extend a job offer at any point during the training window, or both parties can decide to part ways at the end.

The application and approval process is no small task, and the training requirements are significant. But the results have been tremendous. We’ve welcomed three SkillBridge teammates so far and expect two more to join us in January 2026. 

Supporting Veterans While Strengthening Our Team

The program has brought us hardworking, dedicated colleagues—and it has allowed us to support military veterans in a meaningful way. Although I never served personally, both my father and grandfather served in the U.S. Army. Leveraging SkillBridge has allowed us to honor that legacy while solving a real recruitment challenge.

If your institution is struggling to find talent, I strongly recommend taking a look at SkillBridge. It has become a powerful addition to our recruitment tool belt, and it might be exactly what your team needs too. To find out more visit – DOD SkillBridge Program

Next week we’ll turn our attention to Deferred Capital Renewal and Maintenance—and the increasing apathy we’re hearing from some senior executives on the topic. See you then.