The latest unemployment figures reported by the federal government show staggering job losses across the country in the wake of the COVID-19-induced economic shutdown.
The US Department of Labor reports that 6.6 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 4, 2020. Adding the latest number with the weekly figures that have been released over the last month, at least 16 million Americans have lost their jobs. The recent job losses have already exceeded those from the Great Recession, and are likely to grow as additional states begin to put additional shelter-in-place initiatives into place, The New York Times reports.
What impact has this staggering job loss had on the architecture industry?
Across the country, architects have faced challenging conditions. In cities like Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, strict construction stoppages have impacted building activities, while shocks to the retail, restaurant, hospitality, and tourism industries have likely impacted on-the-boards work. Design work has continued on some projects and picked up for certain sectors like healthcare and housing. And even in cities with construction stoppages, not all work has ceased, as many localities have embraced continued work on “essential” facilities like hospitals, affordable housing, and transportation infrastructure. Some states, like California, have allowed work to continue more broadly as long as social distancing guidelines are strictly adhered to.
Amid this mish-mash of regulations and exceptions, it has been difficult to gauge how the architecture industry has been impacted more broadly. Discussion on Archinect’s COVID-19 Lay-off Thread paints a mixed message regarding whether lay-offs have begun to impact architecture firms.
For some, a deeply anxious first few weeks have given way to signs of cautious hope. For example, commenter tduds writes, “Officially no layoffs or pay cuts for April. Remains to be seen what May brings,” adding, “Plus my wife's landscape design company signed three new jobs last week... all these people stuck at home looking at their backyards must've started getting ideas.”
“Cautiously optimistic is the mood of the household this week,” tduds writes.
Archinect user tintt, also shares optimistic news: “I had a job come back last week, one came back this week, and have leads on several more. End of March didn't look so good but spring into summer is. Manufacturing, institutional, and healthcare related work - all with existing buildings.”
bowling_ball echoed this sentiment, writing, “No layoffs (yet). Came to report that today I signed a new (small) contract with an existing client, and did a walk through with a new potential client for a commercial renovation. It's not all terrible news out there. Thank goodness. Keep your chins up.”
Non Sequitur states, “We’ve fully converted to WFH and had an office wide video meeting yesterday. No loss of production or billable time so things are looking as good as they can be. Got a few new projects on the books too.”
But as anecdotal news of layoffs begins to spread within the community, it’s clear that not all firms are finding solid footing as the crisis continues.
Apple Juice Yes, writes that at certain firms, layoffs have in fact begun to take place. “I work for a large architecture firm. We have many offices throughout the US and the world. It is a firm most have heard of. Many employees got laid off throughout the country. 20 were laid off from my office in California. Higher ups got pay cuts.”
“I didn't think this would happen to a seemingly financially stable firm like mine,” Apple Juice Yes warns, “Those who think they have job security, think again. This is only the beginning.”
Archinect user bad_hombre works at a firm that has also laid people off. bad_hombre writes, “I work at a large firm in NYC with over 150 people on staff and a pretty well known starchitect at the head. Definitely a firm you've heard of if you work in NYC. I thought we'd be safe because of the number and diversity of our projects, but today 80 of us were laid off, myself included. Everyone else took a pay cut. A lot of academic projects are being put on hold, and other projects are on pause.”
With the crisis seemingly just getting underway—economists have predicted at least a six-month recovery time for the economy under the best circumstances—keep an eye on Archinect’s COVID-19 Lay-off Thread to stay up to date on the latest lay-off discussions. Feel free to share your experiences and concerns about architecture employment and the current economy there and in the comments below.
Be sure to fill out Archinect’s Employment Survey below and keep an eye out for the results in a forthcoming article on Archinect..
6 Comments
No shit, Einstein...
Landscaping is up, my area full of it, nursery near me sold out and reordered, mail order firm I use suspended ordering after growing wave of new orders flooded them...
So if your firm isn't doing great, contact your landscape consultants, see if they need some CAD operators, even drafters, other help, or even if the landscape cos that do their work need some new responsible hard worker crew. You help your staff weather the storm and they'll help you rebuild after.
Oh and anyone who thinks this won't crush construction and architecture THINK People are locked at home. Businesses shuttered. MANY hospitality / restaurant will go bankrupt leaving unused properties that will be a glut on market for years. Spending on everything by everyone every business down so factories down. Lawyers accountants shippers relying on them down. State budgets down (they can borrow but at increasingly ruinous costs). When it comes time to adapt budgets to the lower income almost everyone and every business / govt faces, first budget cuts hit will be the biggest ticket items, new buildings, expansions, trickling down to new kitchens and decorating.
Unless of course the Feds print up a few trillion and say actually give it to the people to buy stuff with, putting businesses back in business, factories at work... At best they'll give to corporations who will cleverly get around any constraints put on it and use it to improve bottom line ie profit via stock buy backs, paying off debt, buying other companies and reducing competition, etc. not building better facilities for more efficient operations, energy efficiency retrofits, fixing up buildings while construction costs down, increasing capacity etc..
Thanks for opportunity to do some mental flossing
Graduating architectural school in New York City during the 1970s was no picnic. The sad joke among friends was that if needed an architect, call a cab. Most of my friends did not secure any position for almost a year after graduation. It was sheer luck a friend of a friend had a client who asked his architect to hire me.
How bad was it. Well, the largest architectural office in New York went under. One of the largest international firms was saved by a very large international project. They eventually closed several offices and were pursued by buyers for several years. To stay afloat they even did a public school. Another prominent firm suddenly developed a healthcare practice.
We relocated to Texas in the early 1980s. New York became a ‘meat market’ where the prime cuts went for the highest prices and everyone else was chopped liver. Some may differ but, that’s my opinion.
In the early 1980s Texas was booming and many ‘Yankee’ firms opened branch offices to capture the work. Didn’t last and almost all closed shop in the mid-1980s during almost simultaneous S&L crisis, peso devaluation, and oil bottoming out. Some buildings stood empty for several years. Many friends and associates left town. Eventually I was forced into self-employment. Picked up a few small projects, did shop drawings for several fabricators, and worked 16 hours a day for peanuts. Went into debt but, survived.
Since 1991 we have been in the Los Angeles area. Economy has been up and down. Considered leaving more than once. Winter never fails to turn to spring. Never in the known history of humankind has winter never failed to turn to spring. It is the same with our economy.
Well, some of us have our own small firms, others work for other firms big and small, and a few are titled personnel or officers in larger, maybe international, practices. The following are some thoughts on how to weather the current storm and prepare for the future.
"To stay afloat they even did a public school."
The sacrifices some people had to make...
let's take a minute of silence to honour these heroes.
For a firm with a huge international reputation it was a BIG deal.
The greatest human trait is the ability to adapt. Those that adapt survive, and those that do not simply die.
For the next couple years there will be a contraction in the construction industry until people get back on their feet but I would say there will be a shift towards more renovation work instead of new builds. There will probably be a large rebound once interest rates have been relaxed again unless the federal governments do something to encourage spending (not by printing money like the comment above mentions).
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