Architecture and Design (A&D) Job Market in Australia.

CO-architecture -


On a daily basis, I speak with practices all over Australia, and I can confidently say that there has never been a time quite like this.

I've been getting a lot of questions about the current architecture and design (A&D) job market in Australia.

Yes, A&D experiences peaks and troughs with project markets, but the current economic stimulus, combined with post-COVID procurement shortages and massive shifts in attitudes towards work within the labour force, has created a unique storm that no one quite knows how to address. We hear things like the Great resignation and the Great Rehire.

I thought I'd share some statistics from our work over the last couple of months and based on that get everyone's thoughts and recommendations.

We ran a recent poll to gauge the workforce in our network. Of the respondents;

  • 93% said they were actively looking or open to new roles
  • 50% Graduate/Student, 30% Architects, 16% Interior Designer & 4% Technician
  • Of the 220+ roles, 45% were senior architectural roles, 26% were interior roles, and 29% were technician or graduate roles.
  • This indicates a dissonance between the skilled labour force and the types of roles being advertised.

I think these recommendations by Forbes are a great start;

1. Leverage new geographies.
Firms must prepare for long-term, permanent structural shifts in labour demand as they deal with the transformation of their businesses and the 'reskilling' of their workforces." As a result, I suggest looking for talent outside of the geographic region.

2. Rethink your sourcing channels in order to create diverse cultures.

It's no longer enough to want to be inclusive and foster a diverse culture; it's time to take action. Employers must rethink their competencies as well as how they evaluate and attract talent.

3. Don’t wait to connect with passive talent.

With more people working from home right now, passive talent could have more availability. Now is the time to engage these potential employees and begin building a future talent pipeline.

4. Consider leveraging technology (like CO-architecture) to source and pipeline your future talent fast.

Hiring managers who anticipate future hiring needs but struggle to find the time can consider leaning on a technology partner to do the heavy lifting. Using tech to aggregate and engage your network can help drive referrals and build a pipeline of pre-vetted talent much faster than manual outreach.

From Jan 2022 we recorded over 220+ jobs advertised online. This is a 180% increase compared to Nov-Dec 2021

  • That’s an average of 4-5 design roles posted every day.
  • On average, these roles appear to stay active online for approximately 48 days.
  • This would suggest an average 6+ weeks time to find or time to repost. In most cases, it’s the latter.