How Universities Are Closing the Facilities Management Workforce Gap

The facilities management industry is facing a workforce crisis. IFMA estimates that 40% of existing facilities managers will retire by 2026, triggering labor shortages of more than 150,000 positions through the end of this decade. Most universities aren't producing graduates equipped to fill them.

Northern Arizona University (NAU) took a different approach. Working with Willow and Microsoft, NAU embedded Operational AI directly into senior capstone curricula, giving students hands-on experience with real campus infrastructure. One team built a mobile app using Willow's live building data to drive energy competition across dorms. Another built a peak demand forecasting model to help the campus hit its carbon-neutral-by-2030 goal. Both projects are advancing: one is competing for EU green funding, and faculty interest has grown from the department level to the dean's office.

Join our complimentary webinar to hear directly from NAU’s former CIO, faculty leads and students to learn what worked, what the data showed and how other institutions can replicate their model, including the curriculum integration, procurement path and data access frameworks.

Attendees will learn:

• How to build a replicable model for workforce development
• How Operational AI addresses the skills gap, not just the technology gap
• How CIOs and facilities leaders can build internal support from department chairs to deans and why the promotional value to the institution is as strong as the operational value
• How Willow is expanding this model to other campuses and what early-stage institutions need to participate