The architecture profession has been savaged by the recession and there is widespread fear of worse to come, the AJ's State of the Profession survey has revealed. The results came in as fears of deflation mounted this week and Bank of England governor Mervyn King predicted the worst peacetime recession since 1931. The survey's shocking findings show that more than 65 per cent of practices have seen workloads drop and half have laid off staff. At least 13 practices admitted to shedding over 50 employees. The revelations come just days after Foster + Partners announced it was letting up to 400 staff go due to the economic downturn. 'People are getting desperate,' said Deborah Saunt, director at DSDHA. 'It really is bad out there. It's a bloodbath.' Of the 300 architects polled in the survey, the largest of its kind, 20 per cent said they had taken pay cuts, with another 14 per cent saying a cut was on the cards. The disturbing figures have not come as a surprise to former RIBA president Jack Pringle, who warned that redundancies and salary cuts 'would soon be the norm' in architecture.
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