The New York A&D recruitment market remains cautiously optimistic for the year ahead

New York’s architecture and design industry has faced challenges due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. With practices adopting new technologies, a highly-experienced talent pool emerging, and the recent political changes we are cautiously optimistic for the year ahead.

Since the initial halt of hiring last year at the beginning of the pandemic, New York’s architecture and design recruitment has remained flat. With projects being placed on hold and future work remaining uncertain, most firms have had to downsize or temporarily reduce staff hours. As a result, they continue to be cautious about bringing on new staff. That said, we have seen them impressively pivot, adopting remote working methods, providing additional support for the well-being of their staff and effectively navigating this unprecedented time.

When it comes to the talent pool, there have been some very valued, experienced architects and designers who have reluctantly been let go. The candidates coming onto the market have a mix of experience levels and we have seen many with backgrounds in retail, workplace and hospitality sectors in particular.

As always, candidates with strong BIM experience continue to be in high demand. Some firms have taken the time afforded by a slowdown in work to make the transition from AutoCAD to Revit whilst others have looked to bolster their in-house specialist BIM teams.

One of the big successes of the past twelve months was the ability to work effectively in a remote capacity. The adoption of new ways of working, the continued embracing of online collaboration tools such as Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams, along with the individual desire of some staff to continue working remotely could permanently affect what a traditional office space looks like.

Both the luxury single-family residential and healthcare sectors remained strong over the past year.  Going forward, there is cautious optimism that slow growth will return in other sectors in 2021. Multi-family residential work is expected to return and proposed new year infrastructure spending will be aboost to those working in transportation, affordable housing, and education.

The pandemic and its unpredictable nature has caused a shift in what is expected from the architecture and design industries, but we are confident that architects and designers will re-imagine creative solutions to the issues this crisis has presented.

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