Concerns About Compensation

Compensation levels for architectural staff are a major issue for their firms today, report 28.5% of firm leaders. However, there are stark differences by firm size—41% of firm leaders with more than 50 employees said compensation levels were a major issue, while only 16% of firm leaders with fewer than five employees reported the same. Other firm sizes fell in between—it was a major concern for 28% of firms with five to nine employees, 36% of firms with 10 to 19 employees, and 23% of firms with 20 to 49 employees. The level of position about which there was concern also varied by firm size. Firms with fewer than 10 employees were most concerned about compensating both entry level (fewer than three years’ experience) and senior level (10-plus years experience) staff fairly and competitively. Larger firms were more concerned about compensation for midlevel staff, with four to 10 years of experience.