In October last year a tangible sense of panic crept through the architectural practice where I work. 4 years of growth shuddered to a halt, a regional office closed, and pockets of empty desks were conspicuous with their lack of activity. ‘Cut deep and cut hard’ our financial director was overheard saying. He certainly kept to his word and by Christmas one in three of my colleagues had left. At the time I thought it really quite cruel — the national recession hadn’t fully kicked in, money was saved from a superb year of trading and the architectural press hadn’t started publicising other companies losses.
To put this in context, that very week the UK’s most famous architect, Norman Foster, was quoted as saying ‘I don’t foresee job cuts at Foster + Partners. Not at all.’ He went on to advise fellow members of the British profession to stay mean and stay keen to get through the credit crunch. Reassuring words from the man himself. Were we overacting? Had the emerging economic gloom blurred the reality of the situation?
Today the office is smaller, but still busy. Our fee income is adequate and competition wins are finally filtering through. I’d say most people have relaxed a little and are starting to again enjoy the whole process of designing (which is what we like to think we are good at) without worrying about mortgages, interest rates, and fee income.
Foster + Partners, on the other hand have just announced a huge swathe of redundancies 3 ½ months after reassuring the profession there would not be a problem. Why was Lord Foster’s prediction so wayward? Hubris? Ignorance? Spin? I suspect a little of each. Hubris is almost a requirement for many of the really great architects. Ignorance seems endemic within our financial and governmental systems so why not the architectural industry? Finally, the suggestion that spin held some sway over the decision gains weight when one understands that in May 2007 a minority holding in Foster and Partners was acquired by the private equity firm 3i. Their online literature proudly lauds the opportunities created through this relationship and boasts that “as Foster + Partners and 3i work together to seize these opportunities, new landmark structures will appear across the globe — doubling the size of the business and helping to make the second 40 years as inspiring as the first.” I can’t pretend to know a great deal about private equity firms but Id assume that any revelation that directly contradicts their own growth projections and risks denting their share price would be closely managed.
It is a sad fact but jobs must go. If our clients can’t source the finance to develop their schemes then our services are redundant. ‘Cut deep and cut hard’ may appear ruthless but the logic is strong. Financially the firm in question becomes a more agile beast, not lumbered with the burden of non-fee earners. Darwinian logic suggests it will survive where others fail.
Important, though, is its effect on the mental well being of the staff, which in my experience directly correlates with office productivity. An initial cull results in resentment but soon people are relieved their positions are safe and play resumes as normal. Uncertainty over a sustained period, however, generates a collective level of stress that will compromise the demanding standards we aim to achieve. Some might argue that the competition generated by the prospect of redundancies improves productivity. For a week or two this may be true but the sugar rush of activity soon crashes and the workforce is left tired, despondent, and unmotivated.
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