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+--- Thread: Latest Job Losses report Available (/showthread.php?tid=1726)
Latest Job Losses report Available - Kathryn Whittington - 5th August 2009
From IfA Website:
"The current economic situation continues to adversely affect archaeology. The majority of employers surveyed in July 2009 have continued to either lose staff or remain unchanged in staff numbers over the first quarter of 2009-10 (figures to 1st July 2009), although these losses were almost exactly offset by a small number of employers taking on staff in this period. This means that, while technically there has been a small increase in the number of people working, effectively there has been neither a net loss nor a net gain in the total number of people working in archaeology over the period 1 April ? 1 July 2009.
However, this can probably not be seen as the end of the downturn. Even those employers who have taken on staff ? which are typically linked to specific infrastructure projects ? expect this to be a relatively short-term alleviation. It is thus likely to represent a plateau in an ongoing pattern of job losses.
We remain in a position where, since the summer of 2007, approximately 660 jobs have been lost across professional archaeology in the UK. This figure continues to represent 1 in 6 (16.5%) of all commercial archaeological posts, which equates to nearly 10% of all the jobs in professional archaeology that existed in 2007.
While no further business failures leading to practices ceasing trading have been reported, it is known that at least one will cease to trade in the next quarter. An increasing number of businesses are working reduced hours, in several cases with individual members of staff or the whole business working four-day weeks.
The largest organisations (employing over 100 people) have typically been the organisations that have increased their staffing capacities, whereas medium sized and smaller organisations have continued to either lose staff or for staffing levels to remain unchanged.
While some further job losses are anticipated in the quarter to the end of September 2009, the employers of 19% of the staff at all respondent organisations do not expect to be able to maintain current staffing levels. This remains significantly high, although it is a slight reduction on the April 2009 figure, when the employers of 25% of staff at respondents expected to lose workers, and a marked reduction from the January 2009 figure, when the organisations employing 66% of the total number of archaeologists working for respondents expected to lose staff.
Business confidence is slowly improving, but remains poor. As many employers expect the situation to deteriorate further in the coming twelve months as expect it to improve, but most expect more commercial archaeological businesses to cease trading.
Fieldworker skills continue to be lost, in both senior and junior roles. Consultancy (advice provision) skills are also being lost by the sector."
The latest report can be downloaded here - http://www.archaeologists.net/modules/icontent/inPages/docs/JobLossesJuly09.pdf.
Latest Job Losses report Available - Oxbeast - 5th August 2009
Many thanks for posting this here, Kathryn. It does confirm my suspicion that the big units are still growing, while the smaller units are shrinking. I think the market has been heading for consolidation for some time now.
Latest Job Losses report Available - kevin wooldridge - 5th August 2009
I agree with Oxbeast thanks to Kathryn for posting the summary to BAJR.
However I am not so certain about Oxbeast's diagnosis regarding growth of the larger units and market consolidation. Kathryn states that staff taken on have been 'linked to specific infrastructure projects' and one would expect that it would be the larger units undertaking that kind of work. That is not evidence of market consolidation though. It is evidence that major infrastructure projects will be carried out by larger rather than smaller archaeological units.
I think that evidence of market consolidation would be when one or more of the larger units, lets call them the 'Big Six' for want of a better title, swallows another member of the Big Six. I don't doubt that is going to happen eventually, but it isn't happening yet and I think we should be careful reading trends into this kind of data where at the moment the evidence doesn't support the proposition.
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...
Latest Job Losses report Available - Windbag - 5th August 2009
I agree with Kevin. I reckon it's market fission rather than consolidation, with smaller pieces of work being competed for by small outfits with minimal overheads and larger pieces of work won by the largest units. The medium-sized (15-40 staff members or so) are finding themselves stuck in the middle. The ironic situation will be that as smaller-sized companies shed experienced staff, those experienced personnel that are made redundant but wish to remain in the profession are likely to become competitors to the smaller companies by setting themselves up as small companies/ self-employed. They will have the skills, the experience, the client and curatorial contacts and far fewer overheads.
Latest Job Losses report Available - Dirty Dave Lincoln - 5th August 2009
So basically its still a case of waiting and seeing if things will go from bad to worse-or will there be a general upturn.
Correct me if i'm wrong-but in any recession there will always be winners as well as losers.
All we can do is hope for the best.
Latest Job Losses report Available - kevin wooldridge - 5th August 2009
Windbag is absolutely right (and not just because he agrees with me).
I am still (after nearly a year now) confused about the IFA data. Every report talks of the number of archaeologists laid off, but no report has (so far) attempted to track down any of these folk and ask them what they are doing now [u]and</u> (because I agree with Wingbag that at least some of these laid-off folk have set up on their own) seems to be underestimateing the size and range of the archaeological market.
I guess the conclusions anyone draws from asking the same contractors the same questions every 3 months is keeping someone reassured, but it can't be accurately reflecting the archaeological market. So it's worthy rather than full of worth.
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...
Latest Job Losses report Available - YellowPete - 6th August 2009
how many companies have been set up and registered on bAJR?
your right thequestionaires will need to evolve but in a way as to be able to be translated by the average joe, not just the hot sticks.
if some people understnad more through experience, does that mean that the information provides a system where people can jocky in while others may not see it.
so the question comes down to who at what level should or needs to know that kind of info.
dangerous game to give pan jocky info, which bodes ill for all.
txt is
Mike
Latest Job Losses report Available - kevin wooldridge - 6th August 2009
I agree......(I think....)
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...