New research from ISS and JLL, covered by Facilities Dive, finds that while 83% of business leaders believe workplace organisation has a large impact on performance, only 20% actively prioritise investment in space optimisation tools within their FM strategy. This points not to a failure of ambition but to a gap between intent and execution that FM leaders are well placed to close.

The ISS Facilities Management Outlook, drawing on nearly 3,000 business leaders across 28 countries and 24 industries, names this the “workplace performance gap.” Economic pressures are driving it: 68% of leaders say cost concerns weigh more heavily on planning than performance improvement. Yet the same report notes that organisations are not short of awareness. Capability gaps and the absence of clear measurement frameworks are what hold investment back, not a belief that better space management fails to deliver value.

JLL’s Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report 2026, drawing on 84 organisations managing 716 million square feet, finds portfolio optimisation has held its position as the top corporate real estate objective for the third consecutive year. Improving space data accuracy has risen to the second-highest priority, displacing cost reduction for the first time. Yet 40% of organisations are not exploring AI for occupancy planning at all, and 70% cite data privacy as the primary barrier. Only 7% of organisations rate their data capabilities as excellent, and that gap represents a clear opportunity for FM providers with integrated technology platforms.

Ireland’s hybrid landscape makes this opportunity particularly compelling. Ibec’s 2025 Workplace Trends Report finds that 63% of Irish companies have no plans to increase on-site attendance in 2026, with 31% operating a three-day hybrid model as standard. Multinationals in technology, life sciences, and financial services anchor Ireland’s commercial market and are precisely the organisations most focused on portfolio optimisation. FM providers that can offer real-time occupancy data, predictive space analytics, and outcome-based reporting will be well placed to win contracts from this client base.

FM leaders should act on three priorities. First, invest in CAFM and IWMS platforms that generate trustworthy occupancy data, which JLL identifies as the foundation of effective real estate strategy. Second, build privacy governance frameworks that clients require before committing to data-driven space optimisation. Third, develop measurable ROI case studies that address the proof gap ISS identifies, demonstrating that technology investment delivers verifiable cost savings.

The evidence from ISS and JLL is consistent: organisations that close the gap between workplace ambition and operational investment will lead the next era of FM. In Ireland, where hybrid working is the established norm and multinationals set high standards for space performance, FM providers that invest in data quality and integrated technology today will be the preferred partners of tomorrow.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)