ServiceChannel Data Reveals Spending on Facilities Management is Outpacing Pre-Pandemic Levels

PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In the year since the mass COVID shutdowns of 2020, facilities spending across trades- notably on HVAC, janitorial and plumbing- has rebounded to surpass the pre-pandemic rates of 2019 by 5%.

New data released today from ServiceChannel, the leading online platform for the procurement and delivery of distributed services, examines facility spend and service cost trends since 2018. More than 500 of the world's leading global brands rely on ServiceChannel to procure and manage services for their distributed facilities and assets, across 75 countries worldwide.

The data is from the ServiceChannel Facilities Spend Index™, a new economic indicator that tracks service costs and spending patterns across a range of markets and trades and is based on billions of dollars in services delivered across hundreds of thousands of locations on the ServiceChannel platform. Key findings of the ServiceChannel Facilities Spend Index™ include:

• Facility Spend Is Growing After Recovery from Pandemic Lows
• Nationwide facilities spend across all trades climbed 33% in the year since the wide-scale shutdowns in the second half of 2020. Locations have spent 15% more in the first half of 2021 than in 2020.
• As essential businesses with open locations, the Grocery, Convenience, and Big Box Retail sectors maintained higher spend throughout the pandemic. Their budgets are now about 10% higher than 2019.
• Service Costs Have Been Rising, with Recent Relief
• Overall service costs nationwide were 9% higher in Q2 2021 than a year earlier, driven by an 11% increase in material cost. Invoice costs peaked in Q4 2020, and have since fallen by 8% as labor time decreased.
• Since 2018, rising invoice costs were caused by increasing labor rates, up over 7% annually, along with growing material costs, up over 12% annually.
• Cleaning Spend Remains Elevated but Is on the Decline
• Spending on the janitorial trade peaked up 24% YOY in Q4 2020 when locations had reopened and cases were spiking, driven by a 29% increase in labor spend.
• Since then, nationwide spend has dropped 17%, but it remains 15% higher than in 2019.
• Trade Spend Varies Greatly Across Metro Regions
• During pandemic shutdowns New York City experienced the greatest drop in spending on all trades, cutting back 40%, while Atlanta saw the smallest change in overall spending, dropping just 13%.
• While costs nationwide are in line with the pre-pandemic trend, Dallas and Chicago have seen trade cost increases of more than 10% since 2019.

"If 2020 showed us anything, it's that businesses have to adapt quickly based on the latest data. Providing new tools like the Facilities Spend Index is one way we help our customers make informed, cost-effective decisions that directly impact their bottom line," said Tom Buiocchi, CEO of ServiceChannel. "To come back smarter from the pandemic, businesses need to be data-driven in how they manage their physical assets and forecast spend."

The Facilities Spend Index™ will be updated with the latest data across maintenance, repairs, and capital investments each quarter.  Facilities and Operations leaders looking to compare service costs to industry averages can explore the interactive tool here. 

About ServiceChannel 
ServiceChannel transforms how global enterprises procure and manage services for their distributed facilities and assets. More than 500 of the world's leading global brands rely on ServiceChannel to optimize billions of dollars of spend and millions of transactions annually, across 75 countries worldwide. The company provides SaaS workflow applications, managed services, an online B2B marketplace, and unmatched data related to the work done by more than 70,000 service provider companies, leading to lower costs, higher quality, and greater compliance for its customers.  ServiceChannel is a privately held company backed by Accel Partners, with offices in New York, California and London. For more information visit www.servicechannel.com.

Media Contact:
Chanel Sedeno
Mission North for ServiceChannel
[email protected]

SOURCE ServiceChannel

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