A growing number of practices are resorting to three-day weeks and staff pay cuts to keep themselves afloat and avoid mass redundancies. International practice Chapman Taylor, which has lost 5 per cent of its 115 UK-based staff, is attempting to stave off further redundancies by introducing a three-day week for some employees. Speaking on behalf of the firm, ranked 15th in the AJ100, communications officer Irina Townsend said the practice was trying 'to avoid mistakes made in the last recession in the early 1990s, which saw the firm shrink from 600 staff to 70. Essex-based CHBC Architects has also trimmed the working hours of its staff. 'Most of [our people] are now working a four-day week. Some are down to three,' said practice director David Crawley. 'But at least they are still working.' The firm has already lost around half of its 70-strong workforce over the last year. Crawley added: 'I don't want to lose good people. But it is really dog-eat-dog out there, and a lot of firms won't survive.'
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