Field service management is known as the process of managing any organization’s resources when they are outside of the organization’s property. Filed Service Management or FSM helps businesses of all kinds manage their operations and optimize them, enhance the quality of their services, and deliver higher-quality services to customers. According to newly published research, “30% of service solutions are not found in historical service data. Instead, the knowledge of veteran service experts contains the best answers.” This poses trouble, especially when all the efforts in capturing, digitizing, and making knowledge available to their technicians, and customers are considered.
The Retirement Crisis -
However, the bigger problem in this is actually the crisis surrounding retirement. This crisis is currently playing out in the field of manufacturing and associated field service markets. According to researchers and executives, seasoned workers are leaving the space at an alarming rate. This poses a notable threat, especially when it comes to replacing them and training juniors. This is why companies require more resources to keep up with the expectations of the customers and their growing demands.
According to various research and feedback, several organizations from all around the world are struggling to find and recruit the right talent who could replace their aging workforces and people who are retiring. A study done by The Manpower Group shows that 75% the worldwide employers say that they are finding it difficult to find and recruit the skilled individuals that they need to be able to staff the organizations properly. This is alarmingly more than double the rate of employers who were facing the same difficulties ten years before.
Aging Workforce -
Another factor that contributes to this growing crisis in many companies all over the world is the fact that the workforce in several economies is aging. This means that able and skilled employees in companies all around the world are either retiring or are close to the age of retirement. A Congressional Joint Economic Committee Report published in the U.S. in December 2022, found that almost nearly a quarter of the U.S. labor force is 55 years or older. It is confirmed that this number is only going to get bigger in the near future and grow steadily in the coming years.
Failing of Younger Employees -
Last but not least, the factor that is making this crisis worse is the number of younger employees entering the field of service technicians is failing continuously and dramatically. Handshake, the online recruitment platform found that the number of younger people applying for field technician positions has fallen down by 50% between the period of 2020 and 2022.
This poses a noteworthy problem, a problem that has not only the potential to impact the B2B customers but also broader economies. It is important to remember that equipment is the most essential thing for the functioning of everyone’s daily lives.
The Emergence of Generative AI and AR -
Even though the problem is persistent, the emergence of new and updated technologies such as Generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) is now being applied to this problem by worldwide companies. Some of the companies that are applying the updated technologies such as AI, AR, and VR include names like Aquant and TechSee. They are using computer vision AI and AR to recognize devices, and their issues with an aim to provide visual automation and real-time guidance.
These technologies are bringing impressive results which makes it more likely that they will go a long way to address the problem and actually work on them.
