Riba survey shows steady return to optimism

The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) has announced the June 2009 results of its monthly Future Trends Survey, marking the end of the second quarter monitoring business and employment trends affecting the architects' profession.

The trends emanating from last month's survey continue to highlight a steady return to some optimism; only 21 per cent of practices were expecting a decrease in workload, compared to 26 per cent in May. Practices predicting an increase in workload also rose from 27 per cent in May to 31 per cent in June, a further indication that practices continue to grow more confident about their work outlook. The number of staff that are currently underemployed also decreased, from 27 per cent in May to 23 per cent in June.

Adrian Dobson, Director of Practice at the Riba, said: "This is the most optimistic workload forecast since the survey was launched in January 2009, perhaps indicating the first sign of the market for architectural services bottoming out. For the first time since the Future Trends Survey began, workloads in the private housing sector were predicted to increase, albeit by a very small balance of +4, possibly an early sign of an increase in the level of enquiries and project opportunities in this sector."

There has been a change in workload predictions, particularly within the private housing sector, with practices expecting workloads to increase from 11 per cent in May to 24 per cent in June. However, there was minimal change within both the commercial and public sectors. Expectations for a growth in commercial work rose from 11 per cent in May to 13 per cent in June, and fewer practices were predicting less public sector work, down from 23 per cent in May to 16 per cent in June.

Changes in predictions for staff retention were positive overall, with eight per cent of practices expecting staff levels to increase over the next three months, compared to just three per cent in May. The number of practices expecting staff numbers to be cut decreased from 23 per cent in May to just 16 per cent in June; 75 per cent of practices expect staff levels to remain constant over the next three months, compared to 76 per cent in May.

The statistical analysis of the survey enables Riba to regularly report on two key confidence tracking indices relating to future workloads and staffing levels. For June 2009, the Riba Future Trends Workload Index is +10 (compared to +1 in May 2009) and the Riba Future Trends Staffing Index is -8 (compared to -18 in May 2009).

"In the May survey we asked our participating practices to assess how many students (year-out and post-part 2) they currently employ as a percentage of the number they employed 12 months previously. The average student employment level was 55 per cent, in comparison with the average year-on-year staffing levels recorded in the April survey of 83 per cent. The situation is going to be challenging for students graduating this summer. Support for them is a critical challenge for the architects' profession," said Dobson.

In line with this, Riba has launched a new scheme aimed at helping architecture students and graduates who are unable to find suitable work placements in the current situation.

Called HostPractice, the scheme enables Riba student members and graduates access to a national online network of practices and universities interested in hosting students in offices. These students will have the opportunity to utilise the practice's facilities to work on entries for competitions, private commissions, research and being offered an overview of practice activities.

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