RIBA Survey Shows Weakening Confidence in Future Work

The results of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) future trends survey for May 2011 showed a drop in the number of architects expecting an increase in workload in the near future.

The number of practices expecting an increase in work reduced from 31% in April 2011 to 26% in May.

Only 7% of practices predicted staff levels to increase, while 79% predicted that staffing levels would stay the same.

Levels of underemployment also registered an increase with 29% of architects stating that they were underemployed compared with 26% in April 2011.

However, practices in the private housing sector expecting an increase in workload increased to 19% in May from 18% in April, and the number of private housing practices expecting less work fell from 18% in April to 17% in May.