Firm Employment Expected to Begin Recovering

 

Firms plan to begin hiring back employees, although salaries are not expected to increase.
Courtesy of AIA

Architecture firms remain nervous about adding staff this year, according to Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA Chief Economist. However, 35 percent of firms anticipate that the number of positions at their firm will have increased by the end of the year. This compares to only 10 percent that feel that the number of positions will decrease this year.

Many architecture firms expect to expand their staff this year. Overall, over a third of firms (35 percent) anticipate that the number of architecture positions will increase by the end of 2011. Just 10 percent anticipate a decrease in the number of positions. The remainder expects them to remain at current levels.

Larger firms (with billings over $5 million annually) are the most optimistic about expansion this year, with just over half expecting to add positions. However, a relatively high share–almost 14 percent–anticipate a decline in positions.

In contrast, only 17 percent of smaller firms (with billings under $250,000 annually) expect to add positions, but only 5.5 percent expect decreases. Almost half (47 percent) of commercial /industrial firms expect to add positions, while just 2 percent expect to cut some this year.

By position, architects/designers with four to six years of experience are the most popular choice for potential positions to add. Almost a quarter of all firms expect to add positions at this experience level this year.

Intern positions are a close second, with almost 22 percent of all firms expecting to add staff to these positions. Managers and senior managers are least likely to be added this year, with fewer than 5 percent of firms anticipating increases in these positions.

In spite of positions being added, new hires may find downward pressure on starting salaries. Only 9 percent of firms report that entry level salaries have increased over the past year, while more than 22 percent report that they have decreased. The remaining two-thirds of firms report that they have stayed the same.

Larger firms have seen more in the way of salary increases for entry-level positions this past year, with 14 percent reporting that they have increased. Only 9 percent reported decreases. Likewise, firms in the Midwest, as well as residential firms, have reported above average shares of salary increases for entry-level salaries (11 percent and 15 percent, respectively).

Competition for all projects is fierce. Payments from clients are slower coming in, causing a trickledown effect of slower payments going out to consultants, according to a Northeast firm.

- Courtesy of AIA