With respect, I think you'll find that most firms' ability / willingness to accommodate what you seek will be a function of economics and the availability of labor that does not require such accommodation.

A few years back, everybody was busy and scrambling for good employees ... in that labor-shortage environment there was a great willingness to accommodate special needs and requests.

Things today simply are not the same and, in my view, most firms probably will be less accommodating than was the case a few years back. They simply don't have the motivation to deal with the logistics unless the candidate offers something extraordinary and rare.

OTOH, some firms with limited work may prefer a part-time schedule. The real trick in such situations will be to predict those firms' attitudes when things start picking up.

Good luck.

Interesting points.

What am I seeing as a contradiction is during the boom time-- employees and employers were so busy that I found most employers did not want to compromise their "needs" to their employees schedule. Employee out Wed afternoon, employer "needs" to discuss the proj Wed afternoon, employee is screwed...

I like your version of the kinder, gentler employer accommodating in times of possibility. Any thoughts on large vs med vs small firms ability or willingness to do this?

One more side note...my firm changed policies not when work was tightening...but when there was work a plenty. Perhaps it is just this firms position that we are disposable in times of plenty, and disposable now too.

Sad...

I think the model that suits what you're looking for is 'freelancer'. Which obviously means no health insurance, retirement plan, holidays etc.

I think in the States [and perhaps someone can correct me] you're offered 90 days or 3 months maternity leave and nil paternity leave. In Europe, or at least the UK, you get a year for either.

The whole low-pay, high commitment architecture model is not conducive to having offspring, unless you own the firm and your clients don't mind ankle biters running around the office. If both parents are architects, this is the only way I've seen it work.

actually in the US, maternity leave is usually 6 weeks, but you can take 12 weeks under the FLMA, but that is usually unpaid. a horrible system, but apparently, the US is all about family values...meaning, they want women to stay at home and not go back to work at all.

I meant FMLA

Hold me closer....

Suckx.

Hold me closer....

Suckx.

I thought a part-timer usually doesn't qualify for benefits anyway?
One firm I was at, you had to work at least 30 hr/wk to get benefits.

This issue is a such a tough nut. And during these times in nyc it's difficult to differentiate the issues. I know of only one parent who officially works 30 hours a week but the reality is they work 30 hours until a deadline approaches and then they work nights and weekends. As a parent, I would love to work 30 hours per week but would be concerned about being marginalized and the quality of the work.

I've been really surprised that so few architecture firms (none that I know of) have embraced a work environment in which employees were free to spend as much or as little time at the office as they wished so long as they were getting their job done. This would clear up a lot of the issues surrounding having to accommodate people's family needs and would also cut out a lot of overhead expenses. For a profession that is so obsessed with being progressive in its products, we're extremely traditional in the way we produce those products.

"traditional" is a nice way to put it

"Family-friendly architectural firm" is an oxymoron. Architectural firms' usually have an office culture that values long studio hours, "all-nighter" deadlines, "face time" dues-paying, and staunch abidence by those values. Though women have ability (ie: firms' tolerance) to work through pregnancy term, receive unpaid FMLA, and return to work with some semblance of career intact, it's often a bumpy experience. (Some might get paid maternity leave, cobbled from saved vacation/sick day allowances.) 60-hour weeks, and even 40-hour weeks plus commute included, are difficult to achieve if you're also primary parent - which moms usually are.

There are some family-friendly one-off examples of flex-time that I've seen. If a firm clearly understands the measurable economic benefit to FIRM to allow a special part-time situation, because person is inexpensive and valuable, then a negotiated PT employment arrangement might occur. This requires great effort from employee BEFORE requesting part-time status and/or maternity leave, to prove sincerity and value, particularly now with jobs generally scarce and wage-rates still falling. It usually means a "lower hourly rate/no benefits/temporary status" agreement, and usually entails some additional non-compensated hours to make it work sufficiently for firm to view arrangement as positive experience.

Firms also tend to remember each bad experience. SOM Chicago still doesn't have a woman partner, since the first one left.

Small offices, perhaps even homebased sole practioners, are usually best place to find a new position as a part-time hourly-rate position. Larger firms may offer a part-time arrangement to an established (and valued) employee, but unlikely to offer same to a new or recent hire.

msa,

to your original question - we've actually seen much more interest in firms looking for part time or limited duration freelance work. primarily, i think this is because, yes they have work now, but if they hire someone and put them on payroll, only to let them go 3 months from now when the work runs out, they'll take a huge hit on the unemployment tax the next year (if the person files). disproportionately huge. so, from that perspective, it makes sense and, yes, you might reach out to firms with that kind of mindset. they still may not have work, but....