ANALISYS: Over 85% of the architects are dissatisfied with the specific sector

Almost 85% of architects active in Romania are not satisfied with how the profession is practiced in our country, according to a recent study published by the Architects' Council of Europe (ACE) in January 2014. Thus, out of the 182 specialists who answered the survey, half consider that the local market situation is a difficult one ("bad"), while the other 35% consider it very difficult ("very bad"). A better opinion has been made by the difference of 15% of the respondents, out of which 11% evaluated the work in the field as satisfactory and only 4% consider it good or very good. According to the study, similar responses were given by the architects of most countries in Central and South Europe, while at the opposite point stood the designers from the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Finland). Among the most dissatisfied architects are those from Slovenia, Portugal and Spain. The ACE questionnaire received answers from a total of 4,652 architects from 31 countries of Europe. Overall, the designers are more optimistic about the activities in the field, given that the number of satisfied persons doubled over the same period since last year (from 9.1% to 21.9%). However, despite this trend, more than half (54.6%) of the respondents remain pessimistic (compared to 62.6% in January 2013). For the next three months, 43.6% of the architects estimate that work will stabilize at the level recorded in 2013, other 20.2% believe that the number of contracts will increase slightly, 15.9% consider that there will be a moderate decrease, 15.5% expect a significant decrease and only 3.6% rely on a sustainable increase. However, compared with January 2013, there has been recorded a slight improvement in the forecast for the next three months, given that the number of architects who expect a downward trend slightly decreased (31.3% vs. 34.1%), while some more experts in the industry expect a growth (23.8% vs. 22.1%). In terms of changes among staff, one out of two offices registered a decrease of the number of employees in the period 2008-2013, but the forecasts for the current year are better, most opinions indicating either stabilization or slight increases.