Billable Hours: 4th Quarter Compared to Last Quarter

While many landscape architectural firms viewed 2014 as an improvement from the previous year, the American Society of Landscape Architect's (ASLA) fourth quarter business survey reports quarterly dips in billable hours and inquiries for new work. One bright spot was that plans to hire rose from the previous quarter.

The national business survey was fielded January 21 to February 4, 2015, with 229 primary firm contacts responding.

The survey found that 74.67 percent reported stable to significantly higher billable hours, a notable decrease from 84.17 percent the previous quarter. Some 76.75 percent said inquiries for new work were stable to significantly higher, another decline from 83.89 in the third quarter.

Billable Hours: 4th Quarter Year to Year

Year to year, 80.17 percent of firms indicated stable to significantly higher fourth-quarter billable hours, a slight dip from the fourth quarter of 2013 (81.5 percent). Additionally, 84.64 percent said inquiries for new work were stable to significantly higher, a jump from the fourth quarter of 2013 (81.5 percent).

Across the board, most firms (87.51 percent) described business conditions for 2014 as stable to significantly better than the previous year. Fully 71.88 percent said that 2014 was slightly to significantly better.

Of firms with two or more employees, about half (50.63 percent) said they planned to hire in the first quarter of 2015, a rise from the third quarter (48.06 percent). Some 57.90 percent of firms with 10-49 employees will be hiring landscape architects, both experienced and entry-level.

Business Results for 2014 Compared to 2013?

International Work
International billings are "an important segment" for 10.96 percent of respondent firms; 19.30 percent report their firm worked on international projects in the last three years; and16.67 percent said their firm had international work in 2014. The type of work for those firms that had international work in 2014 were commercial (71.79 percent), public (51.28 percent) and residential (35.90 percent), and the regions of the work were Asia (51.28 percent), Latin America (38.46 percent), Middle East (33.33 percent) and North America (33.33 percent).

The majority of firms (73.33 percent) did not pursue international projects in 2014, nor are interested in pursuing this work. Others indicated they are actively pursuing international projects (5.13 percent) or considering international work (21.54 percent).

Do you plan to hire in 1st Quarter 2015?