It appears that the inaccuracies we confront in tracking our profession may stem from the unwillingness of the AIA. Quoting Kermit Baker, AIA from the recent Architectural Record article basically sums it up, "It would be a pretty daunting job". Relying on federal payroll statistics will never track all of the underemployed or laid off Architects starting a practice out of their basement. I would be very interested to understand the effects a recession has on firm size, and specifically upon a recovery.
Recently, we received a survey from the AIA on compensation, but were not counted because of our firm size, even though firms with less than 5 people account for almost 40% of our profession? Go figure.
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Gregory Holah AIA
Principal
Holah Design + Architecture LLC
Portland OR
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