How is the current economic situation affecting you in locations and the roles and field you work in, as an architect/drafter/designer/builder/etc.?
Myself: I'm in Eastern Europe, where we do mostly medium sized residential and commercial projects for local money and Eastern European Clients, with various 1st world nation investors. Almost all our foreign clients are residential investors, and mostly from places like the UK.
The market has almost died in the last 2 months (it is now February 2009) with no new clients in sight, which was my bread and butter previously in the roles I played with various firms.
I've talked with long-time peers and friends on the Pacific Coast, USA (PNW, USA, Oregon to Vancouver, B.C.) and they are not only hurting bad, but most are out of work and all the construction firms are only finishing up old or big-time clients, with no new building projects coming in. Like 99% dead. These are places (can't name names of firms, but well known, big and big commercial successes on the USA West coast!) where people are really wondering what they're going to do. Various solutions of course come to mind (Singing on street corners? Sketching buildings for food? Will BIM for BEER?)
...I know a lot of us are all over the place, and all over the globe...
-How's things in YOUR neck of the woods, so to speak?
-Jena
(edit-. I know how much you all like questions and polls and surveys, so I added one here. *munch munch munch*)
Yeah gov. contracts are ok but there's no where enough work for the people who need it and thought it would be there. Nor money for the projects- just the solid firms that mostly already had connections (in my experience) are weathering with these civil contracts- it's now the water and bread for them from what I see....
I have to pour some of that water on a new member here who responded to my last post with such cheer over 1 hire (LOL)
...
So what again are you disagreeing with- the fact that they are out of business or that you know of one person that got hired? OR that the situation for most people is pretty bleak. I've never done a spec home in my life by the way, and am active in the grassroots community here in Washington.
If you'd like I can name 100 people for that one person that fills you with joy, 100 people who can not feed their families, and even better, I might be able to pass on the news that at least there's 1-in-100 who might be getting hired- but I suspect it's a lot less, if we take state unemployment records for the last 6 months into consideration.
I love optimism, but there's nothing to disagree with. Just the reality that places like Dubai and E. Europe are suffering deeply, and at the top of that chain in the investors and the people who worked for them on their projects.
Ironically, the residences are still in demand, just very few can afford them. I doubt that all the grassroots people will be able to band together to even BEGIN to affect the current employment situation for architects, drafters and builders. City planning depts should have all doubled their work forces about 3 years ago, so that's just typical. They're getting one for probably half the normal price. LOL.
Well write back when the recession hits your town. And keep that smile, optimism is precious, and will be more and more so I suspect.
Meanwhile the rest of us will be working on cad drawings for lamp posts and fittings and contemplating new paradigms of operation- like banding together to make easier and more efficient ways of doing what we used to do in far less time with 1/10 the money.
I have to pour some of that water on a new member here who responded to my last post with such cheer over 1 hire (LOL)
...
W_Draw wrote:you have to disagree with what? My experience? Huh??? Or with the facts I presented. I don't understand.
Sorry JP, but I have to disagree.
W_Draw wrote:So because the planning dept. in
...I've been design/ building for 30yrs and I've been busy this whole time!
They have just hired an additional plan checker at our county permit dept.
Groups of people are banding together purchasing properties and renovating
them.
News update from Calif.
The uptick has already begun.
Sorry if it's not in your area...
So what again are you disagreeing with- the fact that they are out of business or that you know of one person that got hired? OR that the situation for most people is pretty bleak. I've never done a spec home in my life by the way, and am active in the grassroots community here in Washington.
If you'd like I can name 100 people for that one person that fills you with joy, 100 people who can not feed their families, and even better, I might be able to pass on the news that at least there's 1-in-100 who might be getting hired- but I suspect it's a lot less, if we take state unemployment records for the last 6 months into consideration.
I love optimism, but there's nothing to disagree with. Just the reality that places like Dubai and E. Europe are suffering deeply, and at the top of that chain in the investors and the people who worked for them on their projects.
Ironically, the residences are still in demand, just very few can afford them. I doubt that all the grassroots people will be able to band together to even BEGIN to affect the current employment situation for architects, drafters and builders. City planning depts should have all doubled their work forces about 3 years ago, so that's just typical. They're getting one for probably half the normal price. LOL.
Well write back when the recession hits your town. And keep that smile, optimism is precious, and will be more and more so I suspect.
Meanwhile the rest of us will be working on cad drawings for lamp posts and fittings and contemplating new paradigms of operation- like banding together to make easier and more efficient ways of doing what we used to do in far less time with 1/10 the money.
Eric wrote:Many thanks Eric, one outside of the box. Great news.
This is 1 year old already...
http://architecture5cents.com/
"John Morefield isn’t letting the tough economy get to him. /....
Eric wrote:Yeah, our local AIA tried a similar thing. We offered a quite interesting presentation for the public about how and why you might want to work with an architect and then after the presentation, a number of our the architects were available to offer
This is 1 year old already...
http://architecture5cents.com/
"John Morefield isn’t letting the tough economy get to him. The Seattle Post recently spoke to John about his unconventional approach to finding work these days...."
Too bad no work came out of the effort for anyone I talked to later.
Still, while not good by any means, business is a little better than it was last year at this time.
I'd be interested in seeing if he's paying his bills.
I've got two kids and a spouse to support, plus rent and car and bills.
I've thought about something just like that, but not actually had the time to sit out there yet. Plus the weather has been horrible lately in Seattle. Hard to sit outside when it's either pouring or snowing or freezing cold- and not many clients come around either.
It will come back, and it's a good time in the interim to find new ways of working on what we do. In Europe it's a different paradigm, but just as bad off from what I've seen.
In this part of the USA we reached the highest unemployment across the spectrum of working people that has even been recorded, this month, January 2010. We're well over the Great Depression, and that's only counting the people who still qualify for unemployment and not the people who have exhausted unemployment benefits and still not found work- which according to state workers is at least 10% more. That puts us at around 32% unemployment here.
WOW!!!
...so even if I did want that waitressing job, they're not hiring because not enough people are eatting out, let alone able to renovate or fix up that falling down shed in back.
I'll check back in in a few months. I've got a job lead working for a bigger firm, with entry level pay. Nice firm and good people. I'll bet there's 500-2000 of us applying for the position though, right?
LOL.
I've got two kids and a spouse to support, plus rent and car and bills.
I've thought about something just like that, but not actually had the time to sit out there yet. Plus the weather has been horrible lately in Seattle. Hard to sit outside when it's either pouring or snowing or freezing cold- and not many clients come around either.
It will come back, and it's a good time in the interim to find new ways of working on what we do. In Europe it's a different paradigm, but just as bad off from what I've seen.
In this part of the USA we reached the highest unemployment across the spectrum of working people that has even been recorded, this month, January 2010. We're well over the Great Depression, and that's only counting the people who still qualify for unemployment and not the people who have exhausted unemployment benefits and still not found work- which according to state workers is at least 10% more. That puts us at around 32% unemployment here.
WOW!!!
...so even if I did want that waitressing job, they're not hiring because not enough people are eatting out, let alone able to renovate or fix up that falling down shed in back.
I'll check back in in a few months. I've got a job lead working for a bigger firm, with entry level pay. Nice firm and good people. I'll bet there's 500-2000 of us applying for the position though, right?
LOL.
Still looking?
