<p>Nitsua, sorry I did not see your question sooner. Is the market going to be good for architects? I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can tell you what I am seeing.</p>
<p>The last five years have been brutal and I bet that nationally we have lost at least 25% of the architectural workforce. They either retired or found something else to do. Then you look at the number of graduates who could not find a job and moved on to some other career and you have a workforce that has resized down to accommodate low volumes of work. As the market starts to return to more normal levels we are going to have a real shortage of people.</p>
<p>The economy seems to be coming back, commercial projects (apartment buildings, office buildings, retail centers, condos, etc.) have really picked up in the last six months. However the growth is a bit uneven. In Texas we are booming, we have ads out for seven people in our Dallas office. The Denver office is really doing well, but Tampa and Atlanta are just beginning to see an upturn. So you are gong to have to do what architects have always done: go where the jobs are.</p>
<p>I’m pretty optimistic about job prospects for graduates right now. Hopefully they will remain strong when you graduate. The long term trends are certainly strong.</p>
<p>rick</p>