Update:
For all that have already responded or will, please also include your anecdotal observations about the overall economic conditions and, in particular, the improving employment prospects or continuing unemployment quagmire in our profession or related ones in the design field. If this forum gets enough of that kind of commentary, it should enrich this discussion and perhaps, maybe even give a slight reading as to how to what the REAL conditions are out there, and not just what economic forecasts, good, bad or indifferent say we should believe.
Archinet has an interesting and revealing discussion string going on right now where those who contribute to the string, simply state, straight-up whether they are employed or unemployed architects or architectural designers.
This is a completely unscientific and clearly not statistically valid attempt to see what is happening in the landscape architecture and land planning professions.
The Architnet survey so far reveals about 1/3rd of the respondents are unemployed, not under-employed, as is flat-out, out of work. That seems to square with other parts of the country, such as the estimate of upwards of 20% in Chicago (Chicago Magazine) and anywhere from 30-50% in the Pacific Northwest (source: unreliable street rumors from AIA offices).
So I propose we follow the Archinet format and see what numbers we get from this casual poll.
If you employed, write back with a YES*
If your unemployed, write back with an emphatic NO!!
Try to resist the impulse to editorialize beyond the simple answer requested.
Let’s keep the discussion thread open for 30 days from today.
I will do the hard number crunching of raw division to see what the percentage looks like.
If we get any kind of healthy response, the results will be unreliable, but revealing nevertheless.
