Almost all of my friends from architecture school at Georgia Tech are now unemployed. After graduating from one of the hardest engineering colleges in the nation, they have spent their carreer working for large firms in Downtown Atlanta. Architecture requires six years of terribly difficult eduction, three years of internship and passing a 48 hour long exam. Only ten percent of my Freshman class in Architecture got their degree. You had to be in the upper 5 % of your high school class just to enter the program,
Most lost their jobs in the period from August to January. Georgia was already in a recession before it hit the nation. Now the unemployment checks are about to stop. Most of these families will lose their houses. Many have already been forced to take their kids out of college, because they have no money and no credit to pay tuitions.
I don't think these friends realize that they will NEVER work as an architect again. The world has changed for the worst. Architecture is one of those few professions where you never cease learning and growing. Some the most famous buildings of Architect Frank Lloyd Wright were designed when he was in his 90's! Yes, really.
All of the great architects continued to work into their 80s or 90s. As for myself, I can tell that each year I am better at what I do, than the year before. That is why I opted to be my own boss years ago - so the coming trend of firing people at age 40 wouldn't impact me. So today I know how to survive without depending on a paycheck every two weeks. Most of my friends don't know this skill, and probably never will. Unfortunately, the people who have taken control of our country and economy - the money grubbers - don't realize that architects only get better with experience. They consider all people just to be commondities . . . machines . . . that eventually become worn out and obsolete . . . and therefore must be removed from the production line.
Most of my friends will never be rehired. They have been forced into a very early retirement, without being eligible for retirement income. The big firms, who laid them off, will rehire recent graduates, whom they can get cheap. Worse still, they might outsource their work to other countries, like the big engineering firms are already doing.
As for myself, I will never stop being an Architect!
The world is changing far faster than we realize. It is the end of one era, but the new one has not begun yet. There will be chaos in between.
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| The unmentioned impact of the Recession - the end of one's carreer. |
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singaporegal
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Jun 24 @ 8:17PM
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Great blog and spot on trend.
Gone are the days when it was safe to depend on a regular pay cheque because a job for life has disappeared along with the mom and pop stores. AT my age I have learnt the only way not to be up the creek without a paddle is to have many fingers in many opies so not all teh fingers are burnt when one pie explodes.
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ttomtarr
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Jun 24 @ 8:29PM
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Richard,
I am listening to old records fro the 30s to the 60s. They will outlast the CDs by many years. That is the difference between fashion and quality. Good things will last. We may lose a bit of convenience, but if we surround ourselves with quality, it will last. Likewise, the best architects will last, and be in business when things pick up again.
I personally have opted for a life rich in experience and activity, and less involved with style and churning money through my life, I live the same in retirement as I did as a Captain in the boom days of the oil fields. I just bank a good bit less these days ! LOL. should I change my mind, the wherewithal to change will always be there.
Many ways of life are coming to an end, some of them sadly, and some of them long overdue for extinction. My 235 HP outboard sits in the back yard idle on the big boat. We called it a two thirsty-five because of its gallon every two minutes gas habit. But the little 2 HP on the back of the canoe still spends some time on the water, though it is yielding to a kayak and its inherent exercise, all for the best.
We will change or go the way of dinosaurs, who could not get over their high consumption habits. Those old Creeks you study are our future as well as our past.
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luneib
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Jun 24 @ 10:34PM
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The big firms, who laid them off, will rehire recent graduates, whom they can get cheap. Worse still, they might outsource their work to other countries, like the big engineering firms are already doing.
That is the trend, companies hire younger workers they can get cheaper even if they don't have the experience of a seasoned older worker. That's such a shame. Since when did becoming older become a liability? 
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mik48
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Jun 25 @ 11:11AM
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I think it is truly sad that everything now has the fingerprints of greed and the almighty dollar upon it. Almost all decisions at the corporate and political level really are fueled and motivated by money. The average person that works all their life and tries to do the right thing ethically and responsibly is actually treated like dirt by the big business and politicians of today, including Barack Obama. Not one single politician really can stand on a soapbox and claim that they do not have their hands muddied by the current way politics and big corporations do business.
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