Elusive Employment

Jason graduates in May with a Masters degree in Architecture. For the past five years, whenever anybody asked what we wanted to do after graduation, the answer was simple: "Get a job." Given the state of our economy, however, this straight-forward plan has become much more complex.

I've been putting off blogging about the employment challenges currently plaguing architects--probably due to denial. Well, procrastination has worked in my favor because I now no longer have to document the architect's plight: The New York Times did it for me. Here's a link to Wednesday's article on Out-of-Work Architects. The article is so apropos, however, that I'm including part of the text below.

Architect, or Whatever

Photo by Michael Hanson for The New York Times

BARGAIN BASEMENT John Morefield is one of thousands of unemployed designers who are reinventing themselves. Last year, he put up a booth at a farmers' market in Seattle, advertising his skills for a nickel, and ended up earning more than $50,000 in commissions.

By KRISTINA SHEVORY
Published: January 20, 2010


AT the Ballard Farmers’ Market in Seattle on a recent weekend, passers-by could be forgiven for thinking John Morefield was running for political office. Smiling, waving and calling out hellos to everyone who walked by his stand, he was the picture of friendliness. All he needed was campaign buttons and fliers.

In fact, Mr. Morefield, 29, is no politician, but an architectural designer looking for work. He was seated at a homemade wooden stand under a sign reading “Architecture 5¢,” with a tin can nearby awaiting spare change. For a nickel, he would answer any architectural question.

In 2008, Mr. Morefield lost his job — twice — and thought he could ride out the recession doing design work for friends and family, but when those jobs dried up, he set up his stand. As someone in his 20s without many contacts or an extensive portfolio, he thought he might have an easier time finding clients on his own.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Mr. Morefield said. “I had no other option. The recession was a real kick in the shorts, and I had to make this work.”

A troubled economy and the implosion of the real estate market have thrown thousands of architects and designers out of work in the last year or so, forcing them to find or create jobs. According to the latest data available from the Department of Labor, employment at American architecture firms, which peaked last July at 224,500, had dropped to 184,600 by November.

“It’s hard to find a place to hide when the economy goes down,” said Kermit Baker, the chief economist at the American Institute of Architects. “There aren’t any strong sectors now.”

And it’s not clear when the industry will recover. Architecture firms are still laying off employees, and Mr. Baker doesn’t expect them to rehire until billings recover, which he thinks won’t be until the second half of this year at the earliest.

In the meantime, many of those who have been laid off are discovering new talents often unrelated to architecture.

When Natasha Case, 26, lost her job as a designer at Walt Disney Imagineering about a year ago, she and her friend Freya Estreller, 27, a real estate developer, started a business selling Ms. Case’s homemade ice cream sandwiches in Los Angeles. Named for architects like Frank Gehry (the strawberry ice cream and sugar cookie Frank Behry) and Mies van der Rohe (the vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate chip cookie Mies Vanilla Rohe), they were an immediate hit.

“I feel this is a good time to try new things,” said Ms. Case, who did a project on the intersection of food and architecture while studying for her master’s in architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2008. “You do things you always wanted to do, something you’ve always been passionate about.”

Click here for the rest of the article.

So.

I admit that from an outside perspective, the article is upbeat, entertaining, and amusing. Unless, that is, you happen to be a recent graduate in architecture who needs to find a job in a market that is saturated with tens of thousands of unemployed architects who are also looking for jobs--all of whom have more work experience than you do. Oh, and let's not forget all of last year's architecture graduates who didn't find jobs and have now spent an entire year perfecting their resumes and portfolios.

Yikes. Let's face it. I'm petrified. Out of the University of Illinois's 88 architecture graduates last year, only eight found jobs in architecture. Many of Jason's peers plan on moving back in with their parents after graduation until they can find work. That may be fine for a single 20-something, but we're a family of five. We're extremely blessed to have very supportive families, but for everyone's sanity, we really need a place of our own. And let's face it--to pay the rent, you need...

A job.

And so, this post is the first to shamelessly start networking. If you hear of anyone hiring in architecture, we'd love to know about it. But wait, it gets better. At this point, we're not terribly picky. Jason's undergraduate degree is in construction management, so if you have any good leads in that area, we're available. I'm also beginning to look into possiblities in ESL teaching, so if you have any good recommendations for places to look, we're all ears.

A final note: I know I'm rather partial, but I just have to say that after six and a half years of being married to the guy, I feel like I know Jason pretty well. He is a committed, dedicated, and hard worker. Even more importantly, he is a man of great character and integrity. Plus he can solve a Rubik's cube. I can guarantee you that whoever hires the charming hunk will be grateful to have him on board.