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i don't think there is anything we can do. the archaeological input on building sites is obviously right at the very start, so as soon as building firms stop taking on new sites and laying off staff then it will have an immediate impact on archaeology.
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Personal experience from the late 80's/early 90's suggests that the best thing to do is get involved in the post-ex of a really big project, and make sure the task list gets stretched to the maximum!
"Whoever understands the pottery, understands the site" - Wheeler
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Some people I speak to are still denying there's a credit-crunch! It's certainly happening in my neck of the woods. A few people were laid off from the unit I usually work for, and, after a year off to do some post-grad study, there's no work for me to go back to (hence me sitting here shouting about TV programmes for half of the day!
).
Anyone know any good temping agencies?
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Actually, it is a chance for organisations to catch up on their post-ex backlogs, which I'm sure no-one has any of......
What annoys me the most is that it's not that people don't want to buy houses, and it's not even that the prices are beyond what they are prepared to pay, it's just that the banks have stopped lending to people (and companies). And they're not getting their bonuses this year so they're all crying in their chardonnay and talking the economy into recession.
On the whole, on a more positive note, not being in the position of running so fast that you have to keep running or you'll fall over (which has been the position for many units for quite a while) means that there is a bit more time and space to look at systems which have developed organically over the years and make them more effective.
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Quote:quote:Originally posted by BAJR Host
serious it is... but what to do is up to us
I would like to believe it is up to us...but can't. The great Museum of London diaspora in the early nineties should be remembered. I have no statistics, only observations, but there were large 'adjustments'. Some got out of archaeology, others moved around. There were pockets of development around the country for a few years before the building industry recession rippled out from London. Lots of MoL went out to Italy I believe. Thankfully, there was a lot of road building, pipelines and quarrying still going on in the Midlands at the time. However, I fear that present aggregate quarrying might also suffer as the construction projects fizzle out.
And yes, as I have posted on other threads...we are feeling a distinct downturn and laying off experienced staff.
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Thanks to Wombat for starting this thread.
There has been a dramatic turn around in the demand for archaeologists in the last 12 months and the credit crunch is only one factor. The real issues are how long is this going to last for, how many redundancies will there be and how many firms will be go bust.
The margins on most projects will be smaller so there will be a greater pressure to use "cut price" organisations. As for big pay rises and improvements in conditions ......
Dr Peter Wardle
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Umm, somehow your last paragraph sounds like you've got some 'dead wood' that you've lined up for pruning, oldgirl...
I agree about the banks: its all those clever boys in Wall St and the City who have screwed the economy up for everyone by creating banking that was so complicated that no-one knew what was happening...
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Oxbeast, there was nothing complicated about it sadly. It was basically banks leanding money to loads of people who had no hope of ever paying it back, and then people then buying up the loans wiithout bothering to find out if they were any good or not. The word is 'greed', I beleive.
"Whoever understands the pottery, understands the site" - Wheeler
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Quote:quote:Originally posted by Oxbeast
Umm, somehow your last paragraph sounds like you've got some 'dead wood' that you've lined up for pruning, oldgirl...
I agree about the banks: its all those clever boys in Wall St and the City who have screwed the economy up for everyone by creating banking that was so complicated that no-one knew what was happening...
Nah, don't work anywhere now where I have to prune dead wood.
Not my job guv! But I have in the past!
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We have had a drop-off in activity and application of developments between about 2-10 units and the planning lists are far thinner - fewer extensions. Medium and small-scale Listed Building works seems to be running at about the same level as usual. Most of the large-scale LB work or major conversions have entirely stopped.
I have had a few developers on the phone, one in particular, who is trying to get one pile into the ground so that their scheme has been 'implemented' and their permission can continue. But you do have to be harsh with them in these hard times or they will try and get away with murder.
There is one major, major (this is a technical size definition of the council in question, clearly none of the planning department there have read Catch 22) site where the archaeology has been finished for a few months now but no piling mat has yet been laid and the cabins have recently been taken back by the rental company. This one is a bit of a concern as it will leave a dirty great hole in an important conservation area.
