After its first negative score in ten months, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) showed a nominal increase in design activity in February, and has been positive ten out of the past twelve months. [...] The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the February ABI score was 50.4, up slightly from a mark of 49.9 in January. This score reflects a minor increase in design services [...]. The new projects inquiry index was 56.6, down from a reading of 58.7 the previous month. — aia.org
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Serious question (and sorry to my Twitter followers for the repeat):
If the billings index is barely up, and new projects inquiry is down, and overall things seem (as people tweeting this report are implying) to be barely holding on: why are all the offices I know so damn busy?
The serious aspect of this question is: are firms not hiring as many people as they need because we're all too skittish? are firms trying to justify getting more done with fewer people because BIM? Are the fees so low that firms have to wring every last awake breath out of their employees to get things done on schedule?
i suspect firms like BIM because the younger people knowledgeable in revit are more likely to work a lot more free overtime, and get paid less to do it. that's just an assumption i've been going back forth on in my own mind. that might actually explain how offices are so busy, yet not trying to hire people and barely holding on. i'm not sure what 'barely holding on' means in that context though. sometimes it seems the people running a lot of the smaller firms are just there for fun (though they will certainly tell you how hard it is), so their income is ultimately drawn out of a project without a lot put into. the real time spent producing something is the entry level revit kid. why hire more people when you get them work for 2?
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