Turnover Trends: What’s Driving Facilities Staff to Quit in 2025 (and How to Fix It)

July 16, 2025

Turnover Trends: What's Driving Facilities Staff to Quit in 2025 (and How to Fix It)

 

In 2025, the facilities management sector is suddenly grappling with high employee turnover. This isn't just a minor blip on the radar; HR teams at hospitals, universities, large-scale manufacturing plants, and more walk into work and discover their daily operations are disrupted due to turnover problems.

Persistent facilities staff turnover can compromise safety protocols and lead to a decline in operational quality, among other problems. Understanding the drivers behind this trend is the first step toward fixing the problem.

Here's a look at the key factors prompting facilities staff to leave, along with ways to improve retention.

The data backs up the idea that employee turnover in facilities management is a real and ongoing problem. While overall turnover rates have stabilized slightly from post-pandemic highs, specific sectors continue to struggle.

For example, manufacturing facilities currently experience average turnover rates of nearly 28%, and healthcare institutions report rates exceeding 22%. Part of the reason for these high rates is a rapidly aging workforce. Many veteran workers are nearing retirement, and there is a shortage of younger talent ready to take on their roles.

In addition, the availability of remote and hybrid work in other sectors has turned the head of those who work on-site roles. As a result, employers are under pressure to offer more competitive compensation and benefits packages to retain facilities staff, who generally do not have the option to work from home.

Driving Factors Behind Turnover

The reasons for employee turnover in facilities in 2025 can be split into three main groups:

Work Environment Challenges

Many facilities professionals work with aging infrastructures full of outdated equipment. This leads to two work environment challenges that contribute to turnover:

  • Safety concerns: Inadequate safety protocols or a perception that management is not prioritizing worker well-being are major catalysts for resignations.
  • Lack of work-life balance: The grueling, often unpredictable hours required in facilities management lead to severe work-life balance deficiencies. Chronic burnout is a significant driver of turnover, as employees seek roles with more flexibility.

Economic Pressures

As inflation continues to punish household budgets, facilities staff will depart if wages do not keep pace. Employees are increasingly willing to leave for a modest pay increase elsewhere, especially if their skills are in high demand in other sectors. 

Beyond salary, many workers perceive a lack of opportunities for growth. When facilities professionals see no clear career path, they feel stagnant and undervalued. Between non-competitive pay and a perceived dead-end career path, it's not surprising that workers leave for greener pastures.

Organizational Culture and Management

When staff feel like invisible cogs in a machine, their motivation plummets. A persistent lack of recognition for hard, physically demanding work makes employees feel undervalued and unappreciated, a key reason many don't stay in their current roles.

Additionally, concerns over company management and communication gaps lead to frustration and disengagement. Infrequent feedback and a failure to address employee concerns combine to create a toxic work environment. Without supportive leadership that champions its teams, even the most skilled employees will leave, forcing a constant and costly cycle of facility staffing and retraining.

Solutions to Reduce Turnover

So, what can employers do to reduce turnover?

Here are some tips to combat the problem:

  • Boost engagement: Celebrate individual and team contributions and solicit employee feedback.
  • Create career paths: Invest in your team's future by providing funding for training and certifications that support their professional development.
  • Train your leaders: Focus on improving communication and feedback between supervisors and employees.
  • Implement feedback systems: Provide employees with opportunities to be heard, such as surveys or regular meetings with leadership.
  • Invest in the work environment: Upgrade or replace outdated equipment and implement safety improvements to demonstrate a commitment to employee well-being.
  • Offer flexibility where possible: Explore flexible scheduling options to improve work-life balance and remain competitive with other employers.

Fighting Turnover With a Staffing Partner

Tackling high employee turnover in facilities requires more than simply filling empty positions. The drivers that lead to employee dissatisfaction are complex, and no one solution will fix the problem. One way to address multiple issues and break the costly cycle of turnover is to partner with an expert in facilities staffing. Snelling Staffing has years of experience in the facilities management sector, helping organizations of all types and sizes. To learn how our tailored solutions can help you build and retain a dedicated facilities team, contact Snelling Staffing today.