So i've heard so many complaints of the low salaries that architects earn in America so I wonder what the other people in other countries earn. For example, when I was in Taiwan, my cousin (architect), earns a lot, has a fabulous architect, and only works for 6 hours a day. My aunt's brother, who is also an architect in malaysia, earns a lot, in fact, more than the doctors that work there. Is it because Asia is growing so fast in terms of progress that architects are given a lot more opportunity and respect?
working in China, I will say this: architects here tend to make more than engineers (unlike the US), but many chinese architects I know make around 11000 RMB (roughly 1,300 USD) per month which when adjusted to cost of living is allright, but nothing all that fabulous.
foreign architects can make a boat load here though. . .
foreigners who look foreign tend to make more money in china. even more if you can speak chinese. a chinese boss who goes to a meeting with a foreign employee looks impressive and can demand more money. i know many arhcitects though who make more than 11000 RMB, some closer to 50000 RMB (but they have their own company). as an example, i designed a building (design only, no CDs) which took three weeks and made 13000RMB. how much you earn also depends on where you live, with the cost of living higher on the coasts salary is also higher. chinese studnets just out of school make about 6000RMB a month.
many architects here tend to only do design work and not construction documents. this means they spend less time on projects but can go through more in a month. which is necessary due to the breakneck speed of construction. i had one project where the client wanted the building (three seperate buildings) done, from design to opening the doors, in six months.
in india, an architect fresh out of school (undergrad) will make anything between 4000 rupees and 8500 rupees (thats aprox. $90 - $ 200) a month depending on which part of the country you're working in. It's just about enough to put food on the table and a roof over your head, though a lot of people i know still live with their parents.
as for respect for the profession...there's hardly any.
Germany, has more architects than the rest of Europe together. The Saarland alone, one of the smallest of 16 States of the german republic, has more architects than the whole of France.
The building economy however has taken a big dip at the end of last year and there are less projects being built both in office and in housing.
What that means, applying the old economic rule of supply and demand, is that wages in Germany are quite low compared to it's neighbours and even so there are hardly any jobs around.
Germany is definately not the place to be as an architect at the moment.
Architects in Asia generally make better living, because contractors shower them with gifts and cash, just to show appreciation and to win more projects in the future. Just ask your cousins & relatives how they are making more money than doctors over there......
In Denmark an architect gets around $53.000 a year, or $4400 a month right after leaving school. Pretty much compared to other countries. On top of this you get 10% as a kind of forced saving for vacations. Makes it equally hard to start your own office too.
Sucky Thing: There are almost 2000 entries, yet no way to make a city search.
In the next month I will be choosing a firm to practice... they are wildly different firms in wildly different cities. Does anyone know what to expect salary wise in USD from Singapore, HK, Shanghai, and Beijing...?
in ro for example 600$/month is a good sallary. nothing you can complain about.
people still believe that it is a well paid profession.
no respect though! ('architect... So you're an engineer, right?).
I am studying in Spain this semester and have spoken with several practicing architects here. Couldn't get any real numbers...but most feel that they can make more money in the US. However they do work fewer hours it seems, and at least they are still respected, at least here in Barcelona they are.
Well as far as I know:
NYC 9 to 8 average MtoF, AND weekends
DALLAS 9 to 5, no weekends
ASIA all day all week
PHILIPPINES 9 to 5 AND break
...
Italy 9 to 5 AND break...
italy is not 9 to 5, maybe just cad drafters in big offices do that schedule, but no architects i know only works those hours. my friends and i usually work from 8/9am until 7/8pm, with a little one hour break, and sometimes on saturdays to meet our clients who have difficulties to schedule a meeting during the week.
project architect in london, about 2300 pounds/month; but then subtract 25% for the taxman. Sort of creative firm so that's a low figure; wages are higher in a commercial office, far as i can tell, but drone-life ain't for me.
intern architects in london that i knew made about 1800 pounds/month. never met anyone making a thousand except for a bloke working for zaha hadid; basically he was paid bus money for the privelege. starchitects are rotten to the core, aint they?
as intern architect in japan i made about $2000/ month, a few years back. enough if single or living with parents, as many japanese do.
as an aside, working hours in london, about 40 hrs/wk, and the boss often took us out for a pint on the way home round 6PM; very comfortable life. in japan 80-100 hrs/wk, no holidays EVER. As an extreme example a friend in sejima's office talked about design meetings scheduled for 3 AM. Don't show up and you are out of the loop, sitting in shit and considered lazy. Can you say burnout?
From my very own experience, Architect in Taiwan and China are NOT making a better living.....constantly they vent it out loud in local forum, it's even not that un-common that you dont get paid by what you did, if the client dont like it !!!!!!!
In Taiwan, the salary was downgraded for many years, nobody even want to compare with doctors, colledge grad get a monthly US$800-1000 top, if you are lucky, master degree will probablly get $100-400 more, it depends on your experience.....a licensed one, get a monthly $150-200 extra maybe.....
In China, fresh grad get a monthly RMB 1000-2000 ($US125-250) top, if you are from NAME-BRAND school, you will probablly get more.....3-4 years solid experience, will pop up to RMB 4000-5000 ($US500-620)..in some cases, the base salary is low, will be compensated by project bonus....if the tops are willing to share them....
this is the experience from my friends, as employee and employer, and myself....
Hey "James Acuna", no problem........my point of view, those people there are suffering, even my close friends who got his own firm there, have to stay up everyday 9am - 12am is a common practice....because the working staff turn-around rate is high, once the kids there know they already "Learn" something, or they found out someone in other place are earning more , you will be asked to give them a raise, or they will quit....., my friend, as a boss of a 5-6 people design firm, recon that it's actually easier to do everything by himself.......
I second the idea for a search box (with location, salaries ranks, and all the fields of the form as variables) in the salary poll section, it would be pretty useful seeing the high number of salaries submitted!
i was checking out the salary poll recently and it occurred to me that all of this information has been gathered over the last couple of years, through rise and fall of economic situations and with some fairly major bumps in the construction industry. probably doesn't matter yet but, as this information gets more dated, can the salary poll begin to reflect when this information was entered? 1 responded in dec 2004, 2 responded in june 2005, etc...
Sep 1, 05 9:16 am ·
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Salary in other countries (exclude USA)
So i've heard so many complaints of the low salaries that architects earn in America so I wonder what the other people in other countries earn. For example, when I was in Taiwan, my cousin (architect), earns a lot, has a fabulous architect, and only works for 6 hours a day. My aunt's brother, who is also an architect in malaysia, earns a lot, in fact, more than the doctors that work there. Is it because Asia is growing so fast in terms of progress that architects are given a lot more opportunity and respect?
there are many countries outside of the USA represented in the salary poll.
working in China, I will say this: architects here tend to make more than engineers (unlike the US), but many chinese architects I know make around 11000 RMB (roughly 1,300 USD) per month which when adjusted to cost of living is allright, but nothing all that fabulous.
foreign architects can make a boat load here though. . .
what about a foreigner working in china?
foreigners who look foreign tend to make more money in china. even more if you can speak chinese. a chinese boss who goes to a meeting with a foreign employee looks impressive and can demand more money. i know many arhcitects though who make more than 11000 RMB, some closer to 50000 RMB (but they have their own company). as an example, i designed a building (design only, no CDs) which took three weeks and made 13000RMB. how much you earn also depends on where you live, with the cost of living higher on the coasts salary is also higher. chinese studnets just out of school make about 6000RMB a month.
many architects here tend to only do design work and not construction documents. this means they spend less time on projects but can go through more in a month. which is necessary due to the breakneck speed of construction. i had one project where the client wanted the building (three seperate buildings) done, from design to opening the doors, in six months.
in india, an architect fresh out of school (undergrad) will make anything between 4000 rupees and 8500 rupees (thats aprox. $90 - $ 200) a month depending on which part of the country you're working in. It's just about enough to put food on the table and a roof over your head, though a lot of people i know still live with their parents.
as for respect for the profession...there's hardly any.
oh yes, engineers don't make all that much more.
Germany, has more architects than the rest of Europe together. The Saarland alone, one of the smallest of 16 States of the german republic, has more architects than the whole of France.
The building economy however has taken a big dip at the end of last year and there are less projects being built both in office and in housing.
What that means, applying the old economic rule of supply and demand, is that wages in Germany are quite low compared to it's neighbours and even so there are hardly any jobs around.
Germany is definately not the place to be as an architect at the moment.
Justin_Hui
Architects in Asia generally make better living, because contractors shower them with gifts and cash, just to show appreciation and to win more projects in the future. Just ask your cousins & relatives how they are making more money than doctors over there......
In Denmark an architect gets around $53.000 a year, or $4400 a month right after leaving school. Pretty much compared to other countries. On top of this you get 10% as a kind of forced saving for vacations. Makes it equally hard to start your own office too.
ap
Great Thing: Salary Poll on Archinect.com
Sucky Thing: There are almost 2000 entries, yet no way to make a city search.
In the next month I will be choosing a firm to practice... they are wildly different firms in wildly different cities. Does anyone know what to expect salary wise in USD from Singapore, HK, Shanghai, and Beijing...?
This will truly help me out.
anyone? anyone?
in ro for example 600$/month is a good sallary. nothing you can complain about.
people still believe that it is a well paid profession.
no respect though! ('architect... So you're an engineer, right?).
what's
"ro"?
romania
sorry...
I am studying in Spain this semester and have spoken with several practicing architects here. Couldn't get any real numbers...but most feel that they can make more money in the US. However they do work fewer hours it seems, and at least they are still respected, at least here in Barcelona they are.
Well as far as I know:
NYC 9 to 8 average MtoF, AND weekends
DALLAS 9 to 5, no weekends
ASIA all day all week
PHILIPPINES 9 to 5 AND break
...
Italy 9 to 5 AND break...
in italy starting architects can expect to make anywhere between 500 to 1000 euros per month. My friend in london makes 1000 pounds/month........
middle-east wages are roughly around the 1000 euros too........
james, just do a ctrl+F and search the city you want
Monkeyboy....cool tip... unfortunately it only works for the current page and does not query ALL pages.
italy is not 9 to 5, maybe just cad drafters in big offices do that schedule, but no architects i know only works those hours. my friends and i usually work from 8/9am until 7/8pm, with a little one hour break, and sometimes on saturdays to meet our clients who have difficulties to schedule a meeting during the week.
project architect in london, about 2300 pounds/month; but then subtract 25% for the taxman. Sort of creative firm so that's a low figure; wages are higher in a commercial office, far as i can tell, but drone-life ain't for me.
intern architects in london that i knew made about 1800 pounds/month. never met anyone making a thousand except for a bloke working for zaha hadid; basically he was paid bus money for the privelege. starchitects are rotten to the core, aint they?
as intern architect in japan i made about $2000/ month, a few years back. enough if single or living with parents, as many japanese do.
as an aside, working hours in london, about 40 hrs/wk, and the boss often took us out for a pint on the way home round 6PM; very comfortable life. in japan 80-100 hrs/wk, no holidays EVER. As an extreme example a friend in sejima's office talked about design meetings scheduled for 3 AM. Don't show up and you are out of the loop, sitting in shit and considered lazy. Can you say burnout?
From my very own experience, Architect in Taiwan and China are NOT making a better living.....constantly they vent it out loud in local forum, it's even not that un-common that you dont get paid by what you did, if the client dont like it !!!!!!!
In Taiwan, the salary was downgraded for many years, nobody even want to compare with doctors, colledge grad get a monthly US$800-1000 top, if you are lucky, master degree will probablly get $100-400 more, it depends on your experience.....a licensed one, get a monthly $150-200 extra maybe.....
In China, fresh grad get a monthly RMB 1000-2000 ($US125-250) top, if you are from NAME-BRAND school, you will probablly get more.....3-4 years solid experience, will pop up to RMB 4000-5000 ($US500-620)..in some cases, the base salary is low, will be compensated by project bonus....if the tops are willing to share them....
this is the experience from my friends, as employee and employer, and myself....
Wow, that really sucks about China. Thanks hannitect.
by the way, Foreigner has different rate...one country two system.....
Hey "James Acuna", no problem........my point of view, those people there are suffering, even my close friends who got his own firm there, have to stay up everyday 9am - 12am is a common practice....because the working staff turn-around rate is high, once the kids there know they already "Learn" something, or they found out someone in other place are earning more , you will be asked to give them a raise, or they will quit....., my friend, as a boss of a 5-6 people design firm, recon that it's actually easier to do everything by himself.......
hm....
whats the salary about in a foreign firm (Gensler, SOM etc.) IN Shanghai or Beijing ? same as working for them like in SF or NY or lower ?
and yes i read the salary poll, but its not really searchable...
in NZ, a graduate makes something in the order of $35k NZD.
thats about $24k USD.
and you're grateful for it.
I second the idea for a search box (with location, salaries ranks, and all the fields of the form as variables) in the salary poll section, it would be pretty useful seeing the high number of salaries submitted!
hey paul/javier/other - (will email, too) -
i was checking out the salary poll recently and it occurred to me that all of this information has been gathered over the last couple of years, through rise and fall of economic situations and with some fairly major bumps in the construction industry. probably doesn't matter yet but, as this information gets more dated, can the salary poll begin to reflect when this information was entered? 1 responded in dec 2004, 2 responded in june 2005, etc...
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