IREM president’s message: Staffing shortages and rising housing demands - an unequal balance

Staffing shortages have become a familiar operational hurdle across all sectors of the real estate industry. Pair that with a rising demand for housing and you’re left with an equation that simply doesn’t balance. 

We’re seeing this play out across the multifamily housing market. A recent Colliers report points to severe staffing shortages and mounting burnout, driven by rising operating costs that limit staffing budgets and deepen retention challenges. 

Commercial real estate firms – spanning office, retail, and industrial – are likewise struggling to hire and retain property managers, asset managers and other qualified professionals. The shortage is having a domino effect on tenant satisfaction, portfolio performance, and operational continuity.

Then there’s new construction and development. The city of Boston’s website (Boston’s Labor Market | Boston.gov) shows tight labor conditions across multiple trades, citing construction as one of the most challenging. A look at one Boston regional blueprint for 2024-2028 identifies construction as a sector with critical labor shortages, especially in skilled trades. This scarcity has been linked to the region’s uncertain ability to address its housing crisis. 

How these shortages came to be is no mystery. There are shared driving forces across all property types. 

• Aging Workforce: Many skilled workers are retiring faster than new talent is entering the field

• Burnout and Turnover: Between compliance demands and tenant expectation, property management roles have become increasingly complex

• Competition: Workers with transferable skills, like customer service, maintenance and operations, are drawn to other sectors that offer higher pay and/or more predictable schedules

• Post-Pandemic Shifts: Remote work opportunities in other industries have made on-site property roles less appealing

Industry leaders are responding to this hardship in various ways including cross-training existing staff, partnering with specialized staffing firms, investing in AI technology to reduce administrative loads, and improving compensation and flexibility.

IREM Boston Chapter members are no strangers to the staffing crisis. We’re well aware of longer hiring cycles and competition for qualified workers. But, there is opportunity within this challenge. Our professional development and credentialing programs are more valuable than ever. Our events and networking sessions have increased benefit as companies seek recruitment opportunities, retention strategies, and best practice sharing. Our chapter links to IREM Jobs, a national job board that connects employers with trained property management professionals. 

The job shortage is not going away anytime soon, but those who adapt to this structural shift now will be better positioned to maintain service quality, protect asset performance, and meet the region’s growing housing and commercial needs. 

Yoany Vargas is a senior regional property manager at Housing Management Resources, Inc. and the 2026 president of IREM Boston Metropolitan Chapter No. 4.