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Wednesday, 12 November 2008 02:00 |
WASHINGTON – Less than half of landscape-architecture offices responding were busier than usual in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest Business Quarterly survey by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
The survey also showed that only a quarter of those firms plan to hire in the short term as the economic turmoil begins to be felt across the profession.
Only 44 percent of the 267 responding landscape-architecture offices reported average or above billable hours from July-September, and just under 43 percent reported average or above inquiries during the same period—12 and 7 percentage-point reductions, respectively, from 2008’s second quarter.
Slightly more than 25 percent of the offices planned to hire in the year’s last quarter, down from 29 percent in the second quarter. The biggest opportunities may be for entry-level landscape architects; nearly one out of every ten offices indicated they’d be hiring one by the end of 2008.
“The reduced demand for landscape architecture work comes as no surprise considering the current problems with the economy,” said Nancy Somerville, ASLA executive vice president/CEO. “International projects, particularly in the Middle East and Pacific Rim, are a strong and expanding source of work for many firms. Domestically, the public sector remains the most-robust source of projects.”
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