by Michael Wolter
Can the surveying profession survive without increased recruitment efforts and property technology adoption?
A Surveyor Shortage?
Data compiled over the past few years has highlighted a significant problem facing the U.K. property surveying community: a high average age of members, coupled with a decline in new, young prospects looking to become surveyors. Some have even called this a global crisis, calling for significant changes in the way young surveyors are recruited.
With technology making its break into the chartered surveyor realm, young surveyors will be one of the most important assets for the survival of the surveying practices. The millennial generation is well accustomed to mobile technology, and as such will be able to implement property technology tools – aka proptech – into building surveying quickly and smoothly.
The Benefits of Proptech
The benefits of proptech are many and stand to offer massive potential benefits for surveying. The digitization of the creation of a property survey, from data collection to organization and report creation, will fundamentally change the way chartered surveyors perform their jobs. Data can be recorded in real time and can be time-stamped, eliminating any doubt as to the state of the building site when the information was collected. Multiple types of data can be automatically collated into related sections for ease of organizing. These data sets are then efficiently compiled into a final survey, ready to be distributed to all interested parties (via email or the cloud, no less, taking further advantage of an entirely digital process). All of this is done with a few taps or clicks, faster and more streamlined than any previous surveying system.
It is incumbent upon all those in the profession to develop recruitment programs and recognize notable talent as young surveyors come up through the ranks
The Need for Young Surveyors to Take Advantage of New Proptech
Yet without the young surveyors to take advantage of these many benefits, the potential profits of proptech fall on deaf ears. This is why it is incumbent upon all those in the profession to develop recruitment programs and recognize notable talent as young surveyors come up through the ranks, especially when the talent is responsible for implementing technology into surveying firms.
The October-November edition of the RICS Building Surveying Journal show ways in which young surveyors are being encouraged to enter the profession through apprenticeships and work shadowing programs. However, the number of training programs available must match the demand for surveyors, as well as integrate technology into the curriculum.
Imfuna sees the young generation of surveyors as the crux upon which the balance of the surveying profession hangs. Without young surveyors coming up through the ranks, the global crisis some reference could soon become very real. That’s why Imfuna has chosen to sponsor the RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year 2017 Award. Through this sponsorship we hope to give greater notoriety to both the profession as well as those who have made a positive impact on the profession in the relatively short span of their career.
