LB Santelli is a bond trader and makes his living predicting the direction of the economy and Fed moves thus his gut is to be more trusted than the government's. People can make fun of bond traders but they arent the guys from Merril Lynch or Lehman who wined and dined with DC insiders to cook up this mess.
I propose moving the financial industry to Chicago and Frisco from NYC to be further away from DC and the influence of bad ideas. Chicago and Frisco have their own highly developed finacial sectors that are very independent in nature
EvilP - What about the Chicago Mercantile Exchange? Isn't the CME Group bigger than NY Exchanges already? If we're talking relocation, why not Texas? They have more business pull than New York does, especially now that "New York" businesses are in the crapper. California has their own problems, hence TX seems the clear strong location with maximum corporate exposure.
I don't think New York will be the "center of the financial world" for much longer. Prior to all this crisis NY was already way behind London in things like venture capital. Very expensive USA corporate tax rates have not helped the New York exchanges. Many cities live or die by VC.
All that said, a global crisis can change a lot of things but I'd predict in the future decades we'll see Asian exchanges become the center of global trade. Jim Rogers thinks so, and he knows more about these things than anyone on Archinect.
The Merc is larger than the NYSE but it trades options and futures on financial instruments and comodities - it just bought the NY mercantile exchange as well. Wh it doesnt trade is stocks and the Chicago stock exchange is a joke and needs to merge and become an outpost od a bigger exchange - maybe Asian?
But regardless the finacial sector needs to me distributed, I agree Houston would be a good location, but mostly it just needs to get away from DC and NY. Too much meddling from the aristocrats.
evilp, Chicago was one of the key places where the modern interpretation of derivatives (post great depression) was formalized. The first modern derivatives exchange was started in Chicago, hence nobody is innocent in this.
"Wall St" is a misnomer in modern finance because many of the largest financial institutions no longer are headquartered on the Street but are spread throughout the country in places like Charlotte, S.C. and indeed spread throughout the world.
The US is moving to a North South Trade Axis from an East west trade axis favoring the New York / London model as The Canadian American Mexican block becomes more powerful. Costal Long Beach is slipping and continues to be eroded bu Canadian ports such as Vancuver and a new mega port under construction north of that - offering faster shipping times from Japan and China connected by rail lin CN to Chicago Joliet. Houston has emerged as the new trading block's industrial hub and a proposed north south mexico to Canada super highway will accelerate this shift. One can always argue why a geographical area shouldnt become powerful, but one cant stop it from becomming powerful - thats a sentiment that comes from Kreugman who most of the proto-socialists on this board seem to think is the second comming.
The Canadians are lucky to have a government that knows the value of rail and mass transit. If Canada wants to out spend and thus bypass the US, good for them, serve’s us right for letting our magnificent passenger and freight rail networks fall into disrepair and or ruins.
I just don't understand why your placing blame on a specific city evilp, when obiviously this is a global catastrophe.
And derivitives had been perverted long before Phil Gramm and Co. repealed Glass Stegall back in '99. You can blame "Wall St." (the international financial industry) for that.
I dont think it's a city's "fault" but I think the financial system is overly influenced by too small a region between NY and DC of people from the same schools, same towns and social circles who decide policy. Nowhere is this more clear than the banking industry. Go back to 1975 and NY was in a fiscal disaster, and so was the rust belt. There was a policy shift about deposit requirements and lending rules which killed cash heavy banks in the manufacturing regions and essentially funneld the cash directly to NY - regulators are pro coastal. Look what Republicans have done for the explosive growth of the sun belt in the last 30 years. Thats a factor of influence. So Im saying having a more multi-polar finacial system - a decentralised Wall Street, will be more beneficial to the country.
Agreeing with Apurimac here... this is a global financial crisis. Let's not forget Chicago had it's own school of economics which has dominated the latter recent memory... the Chicago School of economics birthed Thatcherism, Reaganomics, and the "trickle down" effect. It isn't just "coastal". There is no one region dominating this crisis... nor is there really one country either. It's globalization... China, UK, UAE, everyone is feeling this one.
Wall Street is no different than Vegas- it's all gambling- and it's centralized and also global at the same time. You're placing a bet and you're leveraging that you'll win. You're borrowing short and betting long for future gains.
If you wanted no risk and all gain- go open a savings account.
As for actual layoffs... 25,000 people were furloughed (sp) in Georgia this week- and the Governor doesn't want to accept the unemployment money from Obama. OH, and the friend of mine who was laid off from TVS can't find a job at any firm, so now she's babysitting.
I am hearing if anything, Europe is going to go down deeper and harder than the US and will suffer real social unrest as a result of this crash. Their banks were actually leveraged much higher than ours were and the reason that London overtook NYC as financial capital was because there was less bank regulation over there than in New York. The higher you go up, the farther you fall. Look at what's happening in Iceland and Ireland. Spain already has 15% unemployment. Riots in Guadeloupe (a part of France). And the eastern European countries are collapsing. I think that the US could actually come out of this with more power, all things being relative. The EU can't even get it together to coordinate a stimulus plan and the longer they wait, the harder it will be to fix their problems. As completely horrible as it is in the USA, I think I would rather be here than over there as this plays out.
You should be glad your here because we also have the most completely whole economy on Earth. America is still the 2nd largest mfr on earth, in dollars the largest, has every ntrl resource you need and is politically stable.
yes, it affected a LOT of people from the DC office. just because it's 10% worldwide, doesn't mean it's split evenly. last time around (december) we were spared a bit more. this time it was brutal. people of all different levels were let go.
plus next week RTKL moves to a new office....
401k contributions suspended until further notice, no raises or promotions this year.
We suspended our healthcare. Had cuts a few weeks ago, basicly a skeleton staff until "on hold" projects reactivate. It seems like everyone with money is waiting for the gun to go off. A few of them will flase start and be disqualified.
Sometimes its hard to believe that it really is as bad out here as it seems.
As a staffer who was let go, you have to wonder whether these firms have been doing their due diligence to keep enough work on hand for their staff, or if they grew beyond their means to accommodate the boom times with little regard to to following bust?
i was lucky enough to be spared. so that is two rounds. the first time the DC office didn't really feel that much pain, like i said. but this time is very hard. several of my friends were let go. only half of my studio is left. i feel guilty in a way. and i have work to get done
s.selophane;
THe hardest thing for an owner of a company to do is to keep staff busy but not too busy. When we try to not hire and ask people to work overtime, they complain, so we have a choice of either ticking off clients and not doing their project (a REALLY bad idea for most businesses) or hiring and hoping we can keep staff busy. Staff has to remember that sometimes working overtime when things are busy is good for them long term- it means the firm did not hire someone to then layoff.
s.s - I would imagine some of the larger offices (like foster, rtkl, som, etc.) keep a fair number of "floaters" around in good times. Up until this past summer, it took months for firms to hire good people to staff up a project. Easier and cheaper in some cases to keep someone going for a couple month troughs between projects.
I think they can say with more certainty now, that there is no next project for the foreseeable future. So teams and floaters are getting axed as stuff finishes up. I don't think it has to do with due diligence or over staffing. There is just no money for new building, and the few developers that have positive cashflow are hoarding it for now.
Here we go again -- more senior-level people making more excuses for their own incompetence and their own failure in keeping their firms afloat. That's right -- it's ALL the fault of the victims here!
I think lecturing and preaching to someone who just got laid off isn't going to get you anywhere in your "plight."
I'm no senior and was laid off 7 months ago. Perhaps, I just have a more realistic picture of the business. Which is probably why I have 4 small projects going and not as worried about getting another job job now.
well, even with the recent good news...the sh!t hit the fan today! another cut, and this time it was large (proportion of what is left vs Number let go...close to 40%) We have some new work, but I gues it's not enough to keep people going.
One of the things I've noticed in my time in firms is that most firms do not building into their budgets an allocation for staff to do standard record housekeeping and other non-billable work that is absolutely necessary to the office.
Very few firms keep full time CAD management staff on board, nor do they carry IT staff. Its funny, most architects offices are packed to the gills with old documents and unnecessary paper because the firm would rather take in new work at a discounted rate and keep everyone busy working overtime than "waste" the money having people accurately clean house and file.
Working in a very small office at this time has been a great way to get my chops in the biz and in the practice. Starting March first we are down to 32 hours a week, steady billing, no OT and dropping benefits. Its not pretty, but its not terrible by any comparison.
That I work with 4 other people, two of which are principals, I see first hand how a design office of this size works. It is a life choice, not just a career, and certainly NOT a job. I work a job on a career path, but it is not a full lively-hood yet since I am not an investor and a component of the business, per se.
So I am willing to roll with the punches for a bit to maintain the office as a whole. With that I know that everyone else in the office has more of a stake in the community where we work - they are invested in the context with families, spouses with other jobs, community boards, etc. I am not so as long as I can live within my means I am willing to take the hits that keeps my co-workers swimming. As a single person in my mid 20s with only student debt, rent and a phone to pay for each month, I can hold my breath for while.
I am glad to be exposed to what goes on with the biz during times like these, rather than get handed the pink slip without any knowledge of what happens before or after that decision.
That is great that you are rolling with the punches.
Small firm life is a lifestyle. one I enjoy as I sit home with my DD since she is home sick.
Other pluses of being in the smaller communites are banking rlationships.
I have been refering bankers directly to our clients for months. The bankers are telling me 2 to 3 months for financing and full cds and bids are required to go to underwriting.
The only clients who are moving forward are paying cash. Dave Ramsey would be proud!
archmed...You are Full of Shit! You really think this is a blip on the map....you have your head stuck in the sand. Isn't there enough indicators out there to tell you the economy is in the dumps! People who own firms are not bad people. You may not like them but they are in general not bad people, they suffer along with you. Yes some people left the profession on a roll, but those guys are also feeling the pinch as their investments are most likely in real estate or stocks, and both as you know have tanked. Everyone will tell you they saw it coming...(ya right in their shorts).... this is a complicated mess that is infused with banking, manufacturing, a world economy.
It is something we have never known in the past. Everyone hope it works out and we all survive but there are no promises or bail outs for Architects unless you are tied to schools or other infastructure projects. Us little guys will have to wait for the trickle down effect kick
in before we will see better times. Wise up Dude...have a white Russian...and well go find a home in Russia if you think your living in such a bad place as America.
I actually think many of the bigger firms in the industry have taken a less-aggressive-than-possible approach to layoffs.. keeping people on the promise of work, based on increasingly dubious backlog, for much longer than they might if they really were arseholes. Aside from a few starchitects, this is an industry where few people really get rich, and a lot of senior people have, in my observation, been willing to share the pain. If this was Wall Street they'd be paying themselves million dollar bonuses and firing 90% of their staffs, all in the same pay period.
a few of my coworkers who were let go today were on work visas. very tough situation to be in...
this situation is tough for everyone. but in all frankness- it is the people who get angry/hype who tend to move forward... and they will remember that- so that in the future when times are good they will be preparing for the next recession.
so i say, don't let go of the anger if you've been laid off and you're pissed- and funnel that energy to make your life even better. don't lay down and just take it... stand up and make yourself, your life, and hopefully the profession better.
I like what +i said above. Each time one is laid off you learn something new. The experience sucks at the time. big time. But, that experience helps you grow.
just a thought for all you looking right now - my firm may be atypical, but we've picked up enough work recently (and have some other factors internally) where we're considering picking someone up for very short term - maybe 6 weeks at most. it's not much, but i can guarantee two things: if we do it and that person delivers, they're going to get the first call as soon as we feel confident enough to hire someone full time. two, they're going to get a great recommendation.
so, keep in touch with all firms - crazy things might happen that are less than ideal, but you never know where they'll take you...
I honestly think there is a tremendous amount of money in America sitting idle waiting to pounce. These foreclosed homes which are a big part of the problem are waiting to be auctioned. We need to spur the action and get them sold. It wont destroy home prices. It may raise them as neighborhoods get cleaned out. Only then can the recovery happen and its essentially already happening. Inventories are down, the second wave hasn't happened as bad as predicted and I believe this is the bottom. By this time next year we should be seeing rehiring taking place. I dont think the number of high end high design firms we have now will be sustainable as the recovery will be fairly utilitarian. My 2 cents.
Went to SF today, met with friends, and drove around city. There are new firms opened up by displaced architects. Most work is smaller renovations. good to see young, aggressive, and sharp designers striking out on their own. Unfortunately, with no other option.
Expect to see some big names bite the dust this year. Have heard of at least two hanging on by a thread. We should see consolidation of larger firms later this year.
This is the time for the young and idealistic to wake up. Architecture is a business. Most architects are not business people. We had it good for the last ten years. I have never ever heard anyone complain of working on McMansions. There were opportunities for growth and advancement at every level and in almost every firm. The best will weather this storm.
One can blame a small number of firms for mismanagement in not securing what some on this site consider their birthright, guaranteed employment. If you want a guaranteed job you should be working for the government. It is not the responsibility of any firm to provide you with more than a paycheck. That said, most firms believe they have a professional responsibility to nurture and develop future professionals. This is your bonus. Remember that you selected the firm for which you worked. They did not find you. If you made bad choices or had bad luck, that is your fault.
I appreciate the abrasiveness of what you said, martini, because sometimes I believe people need to hear that it's not all art and make believe and it is a business.
However, there is still ethics and responsibility in any profession. And many firms have lost sight of that.
Until people are angry enough to stand up and make things right and treat others right -even when everyone else is doing it wrong- this won't change.
Look, I appreciate what everyone is saying -- I really do even the people who are name-calling. But you have to understand that when I see people on here (of greater influence at their offices) acting preachy to people who just went through a layoff, it really gets under my skin.
The last thing they want to hear are more excuses and justification in light of the fact that they have to make a sudden unexpected life-changing revolution -- I mean seriously folks! Just as I feel bad when other friends and colleagues around me are let go from "survivor's guilt", it's difficult for people who were axed NOT to take it personally -- especially considering others still have jobs and they do not. Obviously they feel that they fell short somewhere... You have to understand that people WILL take it personally.
Things are not going to get better for a while and this is something that I have painfully accepted. It seems like the profession as a whole is now under threat of becoming completely extinct. At my late-20s I feel like I'm at the twilight of my architectural career -- once the axe falls on us, there is virtually nothing more I can do in this profession. This is a real shame because I feel that I am learning very quickly with around 3 years of experience and I feel that I will have a lot to contribute down the stretch. But the conditions to facilitate that kind of advancement has been made impossible...
Oh and +1, regarding your post about being angry ... You know what they say ... "It's better to be pissed off than it is to be pissed on!"
Layoffs....layoffs......
LB Santelli is a bond trader and makes his living predicting the direction of the economy and Fed moves thus his gut is to be more trusted than the government's. People can make fun of bond traders but they arent the guys from Merril Lynch or Lehman who wined and dined with DC insiders to cook up this mess.
I propose moving the financial industry to Chicago and Frisco from NYC to be further away from DC and the influence of bad ideas. Chicago and Frisco have their own highly developed finacial sectors that are very independent in nature
EvilP - What about the Chicago Mercantile Exchange? Isn't the CME Group bigger than NY Exchanges already? If we're talking relocation, why not Texas? They have more business pull than New York does, especially now that "New York" businesses are in the crapper. California has their own problems, hence TX seems the clear strong location with maximum corporate exposure.
I don't think New York will be the "center of the financial world" for much longer. Prior to all this crisis NY was already way behind London in things like venture capital. Very expensive USA corporate tax rates have not helped the New York exchanges. Many cities live or die by VC.
All that said, a global crisis can change a lot of things but I'd predict in the future decades we'll see Asian exchanges become the center of global trade. Jim Rogers thinks so, and he knows more about these things than anyone on Archinect.
The Merc is larger than the NYSE but it trades options and futures on financial instruments and comodities - it just bought the NY mercantile exchange as well. Wh it doesnt trade is stocks and the Chicago stock exchange is a joke and needs to merge and become an outpost od a bigger exchange - maybe Asian?
But regardless the finacial sector needs to me distributed, I agree Houston would be a good location, but mostly it just needs to get away from DC and NY. Too much meddling from the aristocrats.
Which leads to mass layoffs in the "Fly over" lands. Maybe we should start shooting them down as the fly over - joking of course
if chicago or houston was the financial center of the USA, global finance would completely move to london.
evilp, Chicago was one of the key places where the modern interpretation of derivatives (post great depression) was formalized. The first modern derivatives exchange was started in Chicago, hence nobody is innocent in this.
"Wall St" is a misnomer in modern finance because many of the largest financial institutions no longer are headquartered on the Street but are spread throughout the country in places like Charlotte, S.C. and indeed spread throughout the world.
The US is moving to a North South Trade Axis from an East west trade axis favoring the New York / London model as The Canadian American Mexican block becomes more powerful. Costal Long Beach is slipping and continues to be eroded bu Canadian ports such as Vancuver and a new mega port under construction north of that - offering faster shipping times from Japan and China connected by rail lin CN to Chicago Joliet. Houston has emerged as the new trading block's industrial hub and a proposed north south mexico to Canada super highway will accelerate this shift. One can always argue why a geographical area shouldnt become powerful, but one cant stop it from becomming powerful - thats a sentiment that comes from Kreugman who most of the proto-socialists on this board seem to think is the second comming.
Dervatives arent bad - they are a needed finacial instrument. They were perveted in DC.
The Canadians are lucky to have a government that knows the value of rail and mass transit. If Canada wants to out spend and thus bypass the US, good for them, serve’s us right for letting our magnificent passenger and freight rail networks fall into disrepair and or ruins.
I just don't understand why your placing blame on a specific city evilp, when obiviously this is a global catastrophe.
And derivitives had been perverted long before Phil Gramm and Co. repealed Glass Stegall back in '99. You can blame "Wall St." (the international financial industry) for that.
I dont think it's a city's "fault" but I think the financial system is overly influenced by too small a region between NY and DC of people from the same schools, same towns and social circles who decide policy. Nowhere is this more clear than the banking industry. Go back to 1975 and NY was in a fiscal disaster, and so was the rust belt. There was a policy shift about deposit requirements and lending rules which killed cash heavy banks in the manufacturing regions and essentially funneld the cash directly to NY - regulators are pro coastal. Look what Republicans have done for the explosive growth of the sun belt in the last 30 years. Thats a factor of influence. So Im saying having a more multi-polar finacial system - a decentralised Wall Street, will be more beneficial to the country.
Agreeing with Apurimac here... this is a global financial crisis. Let's not forget Chicago had it's own school of economics which has dominated the latter recent memory... the Chicago School of economics birthed Thatcherism, Reaganomics, and the "trickle down" effect. It isn't just "coastal". There is no one region dominating this crisis... nor is there really one country either. It's globalization... China, UK, UAE, everyone is feeling this one.
Wall Street is no different than Vegas- it's all gambling- and it's centralized and also global at the same time. You're placing a bet and you're leveraging that you'll win. You're borrowing short and betting long for future gains.
If you wanted no risk and all gain- go open a savings account.
As for actual layoffs... 25,000 people were furloughed (sp) in Georgia this week- and the Governor doesn't want to accept the unemployment money from Obama. OH, and the friend of mine who was laid off from TVS can't find a job at any firm, so now she's babysitting.
is hiring...
No we are overqualified to serve fries.
I wonder, when applying for temp jobs to bridge the economic slum, if I should omit any degrees I have?
I am hearing if anything, Europe is going to go down deeper and harder than the US and will suffer real social unrest as a result of this crash. Their banks were actually leveraged much higher than ours were and the reason that London overtook NYC as financial capital was because there was less bank regulation over there than in New York. The higher you go up, the farther you fall. Look at what's happening in Iceland and Ireland. Spain already has 15% unemployment. Riots in Guadeloupe (a part of France). And the eastern European countries are collapsing. I think that the US could actually come out of this with more power, all things being relative. The EU can't even get it together to coordinate a stimulus plan and the longer they wait, the harder it will be to fix their problems. As completely horrible as it is in the USA, I think I would rather be here than over there as this plays out.
You should be glad your here because we also have the most completely whole economy on Earth. America is still the 2nd largest mfr on earth, in dollars the largest, has every ntrl resource you need and is politically stable.
Arup North America.. 10% across the board announced today.
Please keep the reports and rumors coming.
WE know We have alot of unemployeed Architects and Intern Architects.
Word on the street is that Norman Foster laid off 400!
If true, ouch time...
Foster rumor is true. Someone here referenced it awhile back, maybe two weeks ago, and Arch Record had an article about it on their website.
Getting close to the end of the month so I guess the news/rumors will start flying...
RTKL laid off 10% internationally across the whole firm. Landscape architecture sector is now obsolete and has been removed from the firm.
This just happened at 2:45pm EST
+i. did this affect anyone from the DC office?
+i wow. uh oh...
yes, it affected a LOT of people from the DC office. just because it's 10% worldwide, doesn't mean it's split evenly. last time around (december) we were spared a bit more. this time it was brutal. people of all different levels were let go.
plus next week RTKL moves to a new office....
401k contributions suspended until further notice, no raises or promotions this year.
We suspended our healthcare. Had cuts a few weeks ago, basicly a skeleton staff until "on hold" projects reactivate. It seems like everyone with money is waiting for the gun to go off. A few of them will flase start and be disqualified.
Sometimes its hard to believe that it really is as bad out here as it seems.
As a staffer who was let go, you have to wonder whether these firms have been doing their due diligence to keep enough work on hand for their staff, or if they grew beyond their means to accommodate the boom times with little regard to to following bust?
i was lucky enough to be spared. so that is two rounds. the first time the DC office didn't really feel that much pain, like i said. but this time is very hard. several of my friends were let go. only half of my studio is left. i feel guilty in a way. and i have work to get done
s.selophane;
THe hardest thing for an owner of a company to do is to keep staff busy but not too busy. When we try to not hire and ask people to work overtime, they complain, so we have a choice of either ticking off clients and not doing their project (a REALLY bad idea for most businesses) or hiring and hoping we can keep staff busy. Staff has to remember that sometimes working overtime when things are busy is good for them long term- it means the firm did not hire someone to then layoff.
s.s - I would imagine some of the larger offices (like foster, rtkl, som, etc.) keep a fair number of "floaters" around in good times. Up until this past summer, it took months for firms to hire good people to staff up a project. Easier and cheaper in some cases to keep someone going for a couple month troughs between projects.
I think they can say with more certainty now, that there is no next project for the foreseeable future. So teams and floaters are getting axed as stuff finishes up. I don't think it has to do with due diligence or over staffing. There is just no money for new building, and the few developers that have positive cashflow are hoarding it for now.
Here we go again -- more senior-level people making more excuses for their own incompetence and their own failure in keeping their firms afloat. That's right -- it's ALL the fault of the victims here!
I think lecturing and preaching to someone who just got laid off isn't going to get you anywhere in your "plight."
archmed - really, your moaning is getting old.
I'm no senior and was laid off 7 months ago. Perhaps, I just have a more realistic picture of the business. Which is probably why I have 4 small projects going and not as worried about getting another job job now.
well, even with the recent good news...the sh!t hit the fan today! another cut, and this time it was large (proportion of what is left vs Number let go...close to 40%) We have some new work, but I gues it's not enough to keep people going.
One of the things I've noticed in my time in firms is that most firms do not building into their budgets an allocation for staff to do standard record housekeeping and other non-billable work that is absolutely necessary to the office.
Very few firms keep full time CAD management staff on board, nor do they carry IT staff. Its funny, most architects offices are packed to the gills with old documents and unnecessary paper because the firm would rather take in new work at a discounted rate and keep everyone busy working overtime than "waste" the money having people accurately clean house and file.
Working in a very small office at this time has been a great way to get my chops in the biz and in the practice. Starting March first we are down to 32 hours a week, steady billing, no OT and dropping benefits. Its not pretty, but its not terrible by any comparison.
That I work with 4 other people, two of which are principals, I see first hand how a design office of this size works. It is a life choice, not just a career, and certainly NOT a job. I work a job on a career path, but it is not a full lively-hood yet since I am not an investor and a component of the business, per se.
So I am willing to roll with the punches for a bit to maintain the office as a whole. With that I know that everyone else in the office has more of a stake in the community where we work - they are invested in the context with families, spouses with other jobs, community boards, etc. I am not so as long as I can live within my means I am willing to take the hits that keeps my co-workers swimming. As a single person in my mid 20s with only student debt, rent and a phone to pay for each month, I can hold my breath for while.
I am glad to be exposed to what goes on with the biz during times like these, rather than get handed the pink slip without any knowledge of what happens before or after that decision.
That is great that you are rolling with the punches.
Small firm life is a lifestyle. one I enjoy as I sit home with my DD since she is home sick.
Other pluses of being in the smaller communites are banking rlationships.
I have been refering bankers directly to our clients for months. The bankers are telling me 2 to 3 months for financing and full cds and bids are required to go to underwriting.
The only clients who are moving forward are paying cash. Dave Ramsey would be proud!
archmed...You are Full of Shit! You really think this is a blip on the map....you have your head stuck in the sand. Isn't there enough indicators out there to tell you the economy is in the dumps! People who own firms are not bad people. You may not like them but they are in general not bad people, they suffer along with you. Yes some people left the profession on a roll, but those guys are also feeling the pinch as their investments are most likely in real estate or stocks, and both as you know have tanked. Everyone will tell you they saw it coming...(ya right in their shorts).... this is a complicated mess that is infused with banking, manufacturing, a world economy.
It is something we have never known in the past. Everyone hope it works out and we all survive but there are no promises or bail outs for Architects unless you are tied to schools or other infastructure projects. Us little guys will have to wait for the trickle down effect kick
in before we will see better times. Wise up Dude...have a white Russian...and well go find a home in Russia if you think your living in such a bad place as America.
I think archmed has just worked for too many assholes.
I actually think many of the bigger firms in the industry have taken a less-aggressive-than-possible approach to layoffs.. keeping people on the promise of work, based on increasingly dubious backlog, for much longer than they might if they really were arseholes. Aside from a few starchitects, this is an industry where few people really get rich, and a lot of senior people have, in my observation, been willing to share the pain. If this was Wall Street they'd be paying themselves million dollar bonuses and firing 90% of their staffs, all in the same pay period.
a few of my coworkers who were let go today were on work visas. very tough situation to be in...
this situation is tough for everyone. but in all frankness- it is the people who get angry/hype who tend to move forward... and they will remember that- so that in the future when times are good they will be preparing for the next recession.
so i say, don't let go of the anger if you've been laid off and you're pissed- and funnel that energy to make your life even better. don't lay down and just take it... stand up and make yourself, your life, and hopefully the profession better.
I like what +i said above. Each time one is laid off you learn something new. The experience sucks at the time. big time. But, that experience helps you grow.
1000th post?
just a thought for all you looking right now - my firm may be atypical, but we've picked up enough work recently (and have some other factors internally) where we're considering picking someone up for very short term - maybe 6 weeks at most. it's not much, but i can guarantee two things: if we do it and that person delivers, they're going to get the first call as soon as we feel confident enough to hire someone full time. two, they're going to get a great recommendation.
so, keep in touch with all firms - crazy things might happen that are less than ideal, but you never know where they'll take you...
Outed what city might that 6 week job be in?
ain't saying yet - don't need to get flooded with emails...
let's say south of the mason dixon line, east of the mississippi.
I honestly think there is a tremendous amount of money in America sitting idle waiting to pounce. These foreclosed homes which are a big part of the problem are waiting to be auctioned. We need to spur the action and get them sold. It wont destroy home prices. It may raise them as neighborhoods get cleaned out. Only then can the recovery happen and its essentially already happening. Inventories are down, the second wave hasn't happened as bad as predicted and I believe this is the bottom. By this time next year we should be seeing rehiring taking place. I dont think the number of high end high design firms we have now will be sustainable as the recovery will be fairly utilitarian. My 2 cents.
Homes in California are being bought by investors from China. This is really happening, in areas with strong Asian communities especially.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around_town/real_estate/Chinese_Scoop_Up_SoCal_Foreclosures_Los_Angeles.html
Went to SF today, met with friends, and drove around city. There are new firms opened up by displaced architects. Most work is smaller renovations. good to see young, aggressive, and sharp designers striking out on their own. Unfortunately, with no other option.
Expect to see some big names bite the dust this year. Have heard of at least two hanging on by a thread. We should see consolidation of larger firms later this year.
This is the time for the young and idealistic to wake up. Architecture is a business. Most architects are not business people. We had it good for the last ten years. I have never ever heard anyone complain of working on McMansions. There were opportunities for growth and advancement at every level and in almost every firm. The best will weather this storm.
One can blame a small number of firms for mismanagement in not securing what some on this site consider their birthright, guaranteed employment. If you want a guaranteed job you should be working for the government. It is not the responsibility of any firm to provide you with more than a paycheck. That said, most firms believe they have a professional responsibility to nurture and develop future professionals. This is your bonus. Remember that you selected the firm for which you worked. They did not find you. If you made bad choices or had bad luck, that is your fault.
I appreciate the abrasiveness of what you said, martini, because sometimes I believe people need to hear that it's not all art and make believe and it is a business.
However, there is still ethics and responsibility in any profession. And many firms have lost sight of that.
Until people are angry enough to stand up and make things right and treat others right -even when everyone else is doing it wrong- this won't change.
Look, I appreciate what everyone is saying -- I really do even the people who are name-calling. But you have to understand that when I see people on here (of greater influence at their offices) acting preachy to people who just went through a layoff, it really gets under my skin.
The last thing they want to hear are more excuses and justification in light of the fact that they have to make a sudden unexpected life-changing revolution -- I mean seriously folks! Just as I feel bad when other friends and colleagues around me are let go from "survivor's guilt", it's difficult for people who were axed NOT to take it personally -- especially considering others still have jobs and they do not. Obviously they feel that they fell short somewhere... You have to understand that people WILL take it personally.
Things are not going to get better for a while and this is something that I have painfully accepted. It seems like the profession as a whole is now under threat of becoming completely extinct. At my late-20s I feel like I'm at the twilight of my architectural career -- once the axe falls on us, there is virtually nothing more I can do in this profession. This is a real shame because I feel that I am learning very quickly with around 3 years of experience and I feel that I will have a lot to contribute down the stretch. But the conditions to facilitate that kind of advancement has been made impossible...
Oh and +1, regarding your post about being angry ... You know what they say ... "It's better to be pissed off than it is to be pissed on!"
It's really sad that in this day and age getting proper support and working in a functional office is seen as a "bonus."
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