The conventional business model equates commitment with unfailing availability and so penalises those who can’t manage that. ‘The long hours culture is widespread in architecture. It also means that women are less likely to be in positions to change these structures. This can have a detrimental effect on women regardless of their talent, commitment, expertise and experience. ‘Men are more likely to follow this traditional path while women are more likely to have a path with breaks, different levels of intensity and changing roles over the course of their career. ‘The structure of the profession is still generally geared towards linear rising career paths,’ she says. Teresa Borsuk, senior advisor at Pollard Thomas Edwards, suggests women performing the brunt of childcare plays a role. While the average salary of men with more than 21 years’ experience rose from £67,673 in 2020 to £69,261 this year, the average pay for women with the same experience dropped from £65,838 to £64,548. Although the difference between average salaries paid in architectural practice in relation to the number of years experience has narrowed in some cases, it has widened at the top in the past year. The benefit of experience is not equal between men and women, however. However, the benefit of gaining the Part 3 qualification is increasing: recently qualified architects are now being paid around £4,250 more than their Part 2 colleagues with the same number of years in practice. The average number of years’ experience of Part 1s who completed the survey was 1.55, compared to 1.38 in 2020, while for Part 2s the figure rose from 3.62 to 4.03 year on year. ‘For each level (Part 1, Part 2, Architect), the average amount of experience had increased and implied that Part 1s and Part 2s were spending longer gaining experience before progressing to become fully qualified,’ says Chappell. In fact, deeper analysis of the results by the consultancy found that salaries are only up an average of 0.6 per cent compared to 2020 when examined in relation to years of experience. With inflation standing at 4.2 per cent – its highest level in nearly a decade – the 2.6 per cent rise in average salary (across all roles/levels of seniority) revealed by 9B Careers’ survey is a decline in real terms. Higher salaries, but a decline in real terms ‘Architects or contractors working on fixed-price contracts are increasingly at inflationary risk, and there is a growing concern that a prolonged period of general inflation may come, threatening the economic recovery, reducing overall confidence, and dampening client demand.’ This is fuelling project cost inflation, making estimating and managing project costs exceptionally challenging. ‘Shortages of materials, tradespeople, contractors and architects – for those seeking to recruit – are putting significant pressures and delays to the delivery of projects.
‘While architects remain optimistic about future workloads, confidence is becoming increasingly tempered in the face of external pressures,’ says Adrian Malleson, RIBA head of economic research and analysis.
Ten per cent of practices surveyed in October expected to increase the number of permanent staff. The most recent RIBA Future Trends report, which finds that 27 per cent of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, suggests a lack of suitable candidates is holding back recruitment. This shortfall is backed up by the RIBA’s September Future Trends survey, which revealed that more than 40 per cent of large and medium-sized practices were having difficulty in recruiting staff, while nearly a fifth of all practices faced issues. More on this topic Architects in demand as Brexit and Covid cause ‘huge shortage’
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