Experience Doesn’t Always Equal Retention

One of the most significant findings was around who is considering leaving the industry.

It might be easy to assume newer property managers are the greatest flight risk. However, the research found that professionals with more than 10 years of experience were among those most likely to consider leaving.

That matters.

These are often the people carrying years of knowledge, client relationships and operational experience. Losing them doesn’t simply mean filling another position; it can mean losing a significant amount of knowledge and capability from a business.

For agency leaders, it’s a reminder not to assume longevity automatically equals loyalty.

Regular conversations with experienced team members about what they want next, what is frustrating them and where they see their careers heading can be incredibly valuable.

One of the strongest messages to emerge from the research was that people want to be able to see a future for themselves in property management.

And that future isn’t necessarily about earning a management title.

A clear career pathway was identified as a key factor that could encourage property managers to remain in the industry. While competitive remuneration remains important, particularly for younger professionals, people also want opportunities to develop their skills, increase their responsibilities and progress professionally.

Importantly, not everyone wants to manage people.

Agencies could benefit from creating different progression pathways. One might lead towards team leadership and management, while another could allow experienced professionals to become relationship directors, specialists or strategic advisers.

There was also strong interest in developing greater business and commercial knowledge, particularly among professionals aged 35–45.

Training around agency profitability, rent roll valuation, commercial decision-making and strategic client conversations could therefore become an important part of retaining experienced talent.

Reducing Overwhelm Through Better Systems

The survey also highlighted just how significant workload pressure has become.

Around 63% of respondents reported feeling overwhelmed by their workload, while 71% said things were slipping through the cracks. Among the most experienced professionals, that figure increased to approximately 80%.

Those numbers point to something bigger than individual time-management challenges.

Systems and processes are playing a major role.

More than half of respondents reported that their systems do not communicate effectively with each other, creating double-handling, additional administration and unnecessary complexity.

At the same time, 73% indicated they would be more likely to stay in the industry if they were supported by better systems and AI tools.

The opportunity for agencies isn’t simply to add more technology. It’s to make work easier.

That starts with auditing the current tech stack and identifying where people are manually entering the same information multiple times, switching unnecessarily between platforms or completing repetitive tasks that could be automated.

It also means documenting and standardising processes so knowledge isn’t held by one person and teams have clear, consistent ways of completing essential tasks.

AI has an increasingly important role to play here, particularly when it comes to repetitive administration, scheduling, reminders, document management and other lower-value tasks.

The goal isn’t to remove the human element from property management. It’s the opposite.

When technology handles more of the repetitive work, property managers have greater capacity to focus on the areas where humans provide the most value — relationships, communication, empathy, negotiation and judgement.

Stress is also being amplified by something agencies have less direct control over: the pace of legislative and compliance change.

Frequent regulatory changes were identified as a major source of pressure, particularly in markets experiencing significant reform.

For the wider industry, this highlights the importance of advocacy and consultation. Data like this gives industry bodies and leaders stronger evidence when communicating the real-world impact of regulatory change.

Within individual agencies, proactive education can also make a difference. Helping teams understand upcoming changes early, providing practical training and creating clear processes can reduce some of the uncertainty that contributes to stress.

Three Priorities for a More Sustainable Industry

The findings ultimately point towards three areas where agencies can make meaningful progress: simplifying work, investing in people and enabling the future through technology.

Simplifying work means reducing double-handling, improving processes, integrating systems and removing unnecessary complexity. It also means reducing single points of dependency by sharing knowledge and ensuring important processes are documented.

Investing in people means having meaningful career conversations rather than waiting until someone is disengaged or handing in their resignation. It means recognising that career progression looks different for different people and providing opportunities to develop leadership, commercial and relationship skills.

And enabling the future means exploring how AI and automation can support teams without losing the human connection at the heart of property management.

For leaders wondering where to begin, the answer may be simpler than expected: start with your people.

Schedule meaningful one-on-one conversations about career goals, strengths and development opportunities. Ask experienced team members what would make their roles more sustainable. Identify where knowledge is concentrated in one person and begin cross-training. Then look at the repetitive tasks creating unnecessary workload and explore whether better systems or AI could remove some of that pressure.

None of these changes needs to happen overnight.

Creating a more sustainable property management industry will require collaboration between agencies, technology providers, industry bodies and property managers themselves.

But having independent data gives the industry something important to work from.

Instead of relying solely on assumptions about why people are overwhelmed or why they leave, leaders can begin making decisions based on what property managers are actually saying.

The research also offers an opportunity to change the conversation.

Property management doesn’t have to be positioned as an industry defined by burnout, stress and constant firefighting. With clearer career pathways, better systems, stronger leadership and thoughtful adoption of technology, it can become a career where talented people can grow and thrive for decades.

For agency leaders, the challenge now is to turn the insights into action.

Listen to your team, particularly your most experienced people. Create and communicate different pathways for career progression. Review the systems and processes contributing to unnecessary workload. Explore how AI can support your people rather than simply adding another platform to the tech stack.

Most importantly, keep the conversation going.

The future of property management won’t be transformed by one piece of technology, one report or one agency. It will be shaped by an industry willing to listen, learn and make meaningful changes together.

The full Como benchmark report provides further insights for agencies wanting to explore the findings and start these conversations within their own teams.