I recently visited an old employer of mine who mentioned he is outsourcing his work. I know this topic has been touched on before, but this is the first time I have seen this in practice. There are 2 reasons for this: 1. lack of quality employees 2. Highly competitive market (fee's)
The way it works: Project is designed by him and his small staff (3) in the states. Once a decent DD package is completed he flies south to Argentina (Buss. Class) where he stays for 2 weeks and supervises a team of 15-20 Architects produce the CD's for the project. There is some coordination/file sharing with the US Engineers, but high speed con. makes the process seamless. Aparently the entire process cost 1/4 of US Rates.
Question (if it at all) is: Should this be acceptable? Who is to say that this Is/not?
Outsourcing takes jobs away from the US. Foreign employees receive no benefits, etc...Further hurts Architects fee's by driving them down further.
but, the small guy struggling can compete in a cut-throat mkt. and can put some money in his pocket.
A firm where I worked previously considered outsourcing some work at a time when the office had grown rapidly and there was no way we could possibly squeeze in one more employee. We were waiting for new office space to be ready and had a pretty substantial backlog of work. I left the firm before I could find out, but I think they ultimately decided against it.
Realistically there are only a handful of clients and project types that are even remotely well suited to outsourcing, and even at that I don’t know if it works out to be a good deal. Architecture just doesn’t have the economies of scale present in other industries. It’s not just a one-shot deal in terms of getting a remote office up and running relatively autonomously like it is in some other industries. It requires a lot of handholding, travel, and back-and-forth communications that can really eat into perceived cost savings.
Even once the CD’s are complete, I imagine there is a lot of “translating†the US architect must do to make the drawings acceptable for submission (to meet local codes, to be compatible with customary local construction practices, to meet long-established office standards, etc.).
Also, the idea that there is “seamless†coordination with engineers is laughable. I’ve never seen such thing as seamless coordination even at an A/E firm where the engineers are in the same office.
I don't see outsourcing as being a major threat to the profession in the US...not yet anyway.
Bryan4arch touches on some good points. Although I still believe this is the way to go if you are in the business to make money. Which most of us didn't realize how little we make until we got started.
Our firm tends to progress further with it as our work load increases and when we deem a project right for it (size, cookie-cutter, risk, scope, complexitiy). The hardest part is finding a company that you comfortable with and that communication is at a good level (not to mention they are in a time-zone across the globe).
You can deny it all you want but you are partly missing the boat. It won't take over the whole profession but it will defiantly shut down the closed minded or non-progressive orientated firms. Ask web programmers what happened to their jobs.
if outsourcing becomes the norm NCARB and AIA must consider the practice of licensing NOW or run the risk of flight from this profession like no one has ever witnessed in the US...
b4a, sure not all projects are done this way. The project he is doing with "outsourced" help is a 1500 unit condo convention hotel which his office can't support. Let me expand on the word "seamless": Sure there is quite a bit of coordination that needs to happen, and nothing is ever perfect. However from what was explained to me, the Argentine office (not his, just hired help/partnership) produces the drawings pretty fast and he can communicate with the US engineers (send large files/call) to make sure things are working well. Drawings are done according to local (US) code and in our units (not metric), that's the point of going down there to suppervise.
The project is signed and sealed by a registered US arch, it's just that the "production" is done out of the country, at a much cheaper rate. I don't see it as a threat either, just a good way to reduce overhead for the struggling Arch.
I worked at a firm recently that outsourced the CDs. They didn't like the hire/fire based on project size, so they outsourced. Makes sense to me.
It's a reality that must be faced. CDs can be outsourced with relative ease, so it'll just get more common.
Good point about licensure. It's an unnecessary and cumbersome requirement. Perhaps a continuing education credit, green certification, or something else could be given to architects that would actually help their business.
It's just a reminder to get to the top of the food chain. All those CAD only monkeys out there are in jeopardy of losing their jobs! Maybe now we could get back to focusing on design issues.
May 3, 05 11:25 am ·
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Outsourcing
I recently visited an old employer of mine who mentioned he is outsourcing his work. I know this topic has been touched on before, but this is the first time I have seen this in practice. There are 2 reasons for this: 1. lack of quality employees 2. Highly competitive market (fee's)
The way it works: Project is designed by him and his small staff (3) in the states. Once a decent DD package is completed he flies south to Argentina (Buss. Class) where he stays for 2 weeks and supervises a team of 15-20 Architects produce the CD's for the project. There is some coordination/file sharing with the US Engineers, but high speed con. makes the process seamless. Aparently the entire process cost 1/4 of US Rates.
Question (if it at all) is: Should this be acceptable? Who is to say that this Is/not?
Outsourcing takes jobs away from the US. Foreign employees receive no benefits, etc...Further hurts Architects fee's by driving them down further.
but, the small guy struggling can compete in a cut-throat mkt. and can put some money in his pocket.
A firm where I worked previously considered outsourcing some work at a time when the office had grown rapidly and there was no way we could possibly squeeze in one more employee. We were waiting for new office space to be ready and had a pretty substantial backlog of work. I left the firm before I could find out, but I think they ultimately decided against it.
Realistically there are only a handful of clients and project types that are even remotely well suited to outsourcing, and even at that I don’t know if it works out to be a good deal. Architecture just doesn’t have the economies of scale present in other industries. It’s not just a one-shot deal in terms of getting a remote office up and running relatively autonomously like it is in some other industries. It requires a lot of handholding, travel, and back-and-forth communications that can really eat into perceived cost savings.
Even once the CD’s are complete, I imagine there is a lot of “translating†the US architect must do to make the drawings acceptable for submission (to meet local codes, to be compatible with customary local construction practices, to meet long-established office standards, etc.).
Also, the idea that there is “seamless†coordination with engineers is laughable. I’ve never seen such thing as seamless coordination even at an A/E firm where the engineers are in the same office.
I don't see outsourcing as being a major threat to the profession in the US...not yet anyway.
Bryan4arch touches on some good points. Although I still believe this is the way to go if you are in the business to make money. Which most of us didn't realize how little we make until we got started.
Our firm tends to progress further with it as our work load increases and when we deem a project right for it (size, cookie-cutter, risk, scope, complexitiy). The hardest part is finding a company that you comfortable with and that communication is at a good level (not to mention they are in a time-zone across the globe).
You can deny it all you want but you are partly missing the boat. It won't take over the whole profession but it will defiantly shut down the closed minded or non-progressive orientated firms. Ask web programmers what happened to their jobs.
if outsourcing becomes the norm NCARB and AIA must consider the practice of licensing NOW or run the risk of flight from this profession like no one has ever witnessed in the US...
b4a, sure not all projects are done this way. The project he is doing with "outsourced" help is a 1500 unit condo convention hotel which his office can't support. Let me expand on the word "seamless": Sure there is quite a bit of coordination that needs to happen, and nothing is ever perfect. However from what was explained to me, the Argentine office (not his, just hired help/partnership) produces the drawings pretty fast and he can communicate with the US engineers (send large files/call) to make sure things are working well. Drawings are done according to local (US) code and in our units (not metric), that's the point of going down there to suppervise.
The project is signed and sealed by a registered US arch, it's just that the "production" is done out of the country, at a much cheaper rate. I don't see it as a threat either, just a good way to reduce overhead for the struggling Arch.
I worked at a firm recently that outsourced the CDs. They didn't like the hire/fire based on project size, so they outsourced. Makes sense to me.
It's a reality that must be faced. CDs can be outsourced with relative ease, so it'll just get more common.
Good point about licensure. It's an unnecessary and cumbersome requirement. Perhaps a continuing education credit, green certification, or something else could be given to architects that would actually help their business.
It's just a reminder to get to the top of the food chain. All those CAD only monkeys out there are in jeopardy of losing their jobs! Maybe now we could get back to focusing on design issues.
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