Architecture's abysmal year

MSNBC confirms what every architect in Los Angeles and around the country already knew: 2009 was an absolutely gruesome year for the profession and for related trades. 

According to the site's year-end tally of job losses, no field was hit as hard as architecture. Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the number of "employed architects" in the U.S. dropped from 230,000 through three quarters of 2008 to 189,000 at the same point in 2009.

Following architects on MSNBC's list of job losses were carpenters at No. 2. Construction workers ranked No. 7. 

There was a long-term glimmer of hope, however: BLS projections suggest that employment in architecture and engineering will grow about 10% through 2018.

-- Christopher Hawthorne

Photo by flickr user Martin Stabenfeldt.

Comments

[rob]

We just lost 18% of architecture jobs in one year and the prospect of gaining 10% of them back over the next 8 years is hopeful and worth waiting for? I don't think so. There are far more architects teetering on the edge of professional sustainability as this year turns. Many will not survive without capital, historically in short supply in architecture.
What are those 41,000 architects out of work architects plus the 50,000 architecture students currently in school suppose to do in the short term? The AIA needs to act aggressively to support and encourage alternatives to stabilize the profession. Perhaps another WPA/CCC/HABS program? This country cannot afford to lose this intellectual capital. Good design is in short enough supply already and must not be further undervalued.

[TylerDurden]

If I were an architect in this climate I would either design virtual worlds for video games, or create an iPhone app. Those are about the only growth industries left. Or become a Washington lobbyist.

[Quentin]

I graduatated with my BS in architecture last May. I applied or inquired to over 120 architecture firms in the DC area and not one offer. I only know 2 people who I graduated with who found jobs. The industry is really in a downturn right now. Abosulte worst time to be graduating since we have little to know experience. SMH!