MELBOURNE MARKET UPDATE: Summer 2007 / 08
MELBOURNE MARKET HOTSPOTS
Well, it's that time of year again, and the traditional Christmas slowdown has yet to fully materialise... The market is still active and buoyant, and is continuing to offer a great spread of opportunities in small & large practices alike across Architecture and Interior Design.
There is still a high volume of projects in the works, with several key hotspots evident for Architects, Interior Designers and Draftspeople:
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Mid-level Architects: Especially those with medium-scale project experience and backgrounds in commercial, aged care, mixed-use, hospitality and retail
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Senior Interior Designers: Designers with upwards of 7 years experience and the ability to run teams are in high demand. Those with commercial, retail & hospitality experience are still highly sought after.
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CAD Draftspeople: Documentors are always in high demand -- essentially anyone from the 2+ year experience level will be easily placed to secure a position in the industry. Next year we should see even more of an increase in documentation roles, as many projects which are currently at Design stage will be moving through to construction stage.
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Senior / Associate Level Architects: Senior level people are always hard to find, but in this current active market, the issue seems to be more evident that ever. Demand has remained consistent for candidates at the Associate / Executive level across all facets of Architecture.
The market in Melbourne is continuing on its healthy trend, with no indications of a slowdown any time particularly soon.
The only slightly cloudy point on the horizon is whether the recent economic concerns in the US (with a troubled housing market and a descent in the stock market) will have an effect on the Australian economy in the near future.
SYDNEY MARKET HOTSPOTS
Currently Architectural practices are looking for a broad range of staff, especially mid-level architects, and although there seems to be a lot of focus on commercial projects right now, the retail, hospitality, and health sectors are also seeing quite a bit of activity as well.
The major recruitment activity has centred on either concept design roles or all-round roles, however next year we should see an increase in documentation roles, as many projects that are currently at D.A. stage, will be moving through to construction stage.
There are many exciting interior design projects at present, along with some exciting new practices entering the market, resulting in high levels of demand for quality staff. The commercial sector is extremely strong right now, as are the hospitality and retail sectors, with a number of quality practices getting out there looking for good people.
As with Melbourne, contract rates and salaries have shown strong growth throughout 2007; especially for mid-level candidates, and this merely reflects the shortage of top candidates within the market.
LOOKING GLOBAL
All reports from our affiliates in New Zealand, England, Ireland and Dubai indicate that each market is continuing on their busy streaks with Candidates at all levels are in demand; from graduates all the way up to Associate level Architects.
Bloomfield Tremayne have affiliates across the globe, so if you have the travel bug and are keen to get your foot in the door overseas, please contact one of our consultants who can put you on the track towards your dream role abroad!
CAREER PLANNING FROM HERE
This busy market has presented significant opportunities for mid-level Architects, Draftspeople & Interior Designers (i.e. those in the 4-6 year experience range). With a skills shortage across the board, many mid-level candidates have been given the opportunity to step up to the plate, taking on broader responsibilities and higher salaries.
Whilst the market isn't showing signs of slowing down in the very near future, it is still important to develop a plan for your career, to ensure that you will continue to develop and progress along the way.
To plan & develop your career you need to continually reassess where you're at, and more importantly, where you want to be. The following points may help narrow this down for you!
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Know your strengths, skills, interests and goals
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Old dogs can learn new tricks! This is especially necessary in such a technologically driven industry. Embrace the opportunity to learn new skills they will always come in handy, and will make you a more valuable and effective employee in the long-run
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Talk to your employer (it doesn't have to be a scary or particularly formal process; most employers will be keen to get an idea of how you want to develop in your career)
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Explore your options; research the market and get an idea of what opportunities could be available to you as you progress in your career
With a clear career development plan in mind, you can continue to progress in your responsibilities (& salary level), and this way if the market does plateau, your career future will not plateau with it.
If you have any specific queries, or would like to sit down with one of our consultants to discuss your career options, please don't hesitate to contact Bruce, Kirsten, Elisa, Leigh, Jamie or Dwayne.
CONTRACT vs PERMANENT POSITIONS
With sustained high design activity and buoyant employment levels, we have seen a strong leaning by job-hunters toward permanent opportunities in preference to contract roles in recent years.
The most obvious reason for this is the general recognition that permanent roles offer the strongest path toward a long-term career within a practice, and whilst this is most often the case, there remain a number of compelling reasons to consider contract opportunities when you are looking at the employment market.
In the majority of instances, long-term commitments are readily available from practices for contractor's roles, and certainly the mindset that contractors are only short-term specialists has changed radically over the years.
The majority of contractors are paid for all hours worked, so often there are financial advantages, particularly on large-scale projects or in deadline driven environments where longer-than-average hours are worked.
Further, for contractors represented by Bloomfield Tremayne, we are still the only agency that have contracts that comply with the relevant Tax Rulings, providing further security in how the ATO views the nature of the arrangement in respect to Personal Services Income along with other related issues.
From an administrative point of view, Bloomfield Tremayne's contracts enable Sole Traders to have Tax deducted at the PAYG rate, with Superannuation administration undertaken as well, so in this respect, the headaches of GST, BAS statements and personal tax contributions each quarter don't have to be part of the equation.
RATE & SALARY SCHEDULE GUIDELINES
Are you being paid according to current market rates?
VECCI have recently advised us of increases to the Architectural Award Rates, which will affect employees currently engaged on the minimum award figures; either permanent, temp or independent contract.
We are also currently in the process of updating our own Salary Schedule Guidelines, which take into account, not only the Award rates for Architects, Draftspeople & Interior Designers, but also incorporate current market rates that we have been seeing throughout the year.
So should you wish to discuss your salary or have a pending review for which you wish to prepare, please contact your consultant, who will be delighted to assist you.
A NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
With the recent change of Government in Australia, a very different Industrial Relations environment is expected in Australia, with an early clear indication being the abolition of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA's).
The Labor Party has indicated it will introduce transitional arrangements, intending to abolish the use of AWA's from about March 2008, when it will introduce its Transitional Bill.
From that time businesses may use Labor's alternative statutory contract, called an Individual Transitional Employment Agreement or ITEA. At the time of writing (30th November 2007) we have been advised that employers who wish to use ITEA's must have at least one AWA in place before 1 December 2007. (Yes!!!!!)
The general feelings among a small test group of clients today has shown that some are concerned about the changes, creating uncertainty in how people will be engaged - citing they may look at engaging new recruits on a independent contract basis until further clarity comes to the fore in 2008. Other groups had indicated that their staff are engaged under The Architects Award, and they believe that these modifications should not result in any great change.
We will keep you posted as to changes when further clarity emerges.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any specific queries or require further information in respect to market conditions or employment opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact one of our consulting team for further information.
We would love to hear any feedback, thoughts or other points of view that you may have on the above market conditions, or indeed any other articles that you may be interested in us posting on our news section in the future.
