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• Institute urges ministers to 'unblock' funding
• Building workers' union seeks social housing boost
• Professions worst hit by the recession (pdf)
Architects are joining the ranks of benefit claimants at a faster rate than any other profession, according to a Guardian analysis of figures for the last 12 months.
Other jobs related to the construction industry, including managers, surveyors, engineers, bricklayers, carpenters and scaffolders, also feature prominently among the 20 professions that have seen the biggest increases in benefits claimants.
Construction unions and professional bodies said the actual numbers out of work were much higher than the official figures suggest and reiterated their pleas for the government to revive the industry by underwriting public building projects.
Office of National Statistics figures released this week show that between February 2008 and February 2009 the number of architects claiming benefits rose by 760% from 150 to 1,290 - the biggest increase among recorded professions.
The second biggest increase was among architectural technologists and town planning technicians.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) said the figures came as no surprise and estimated that the level of unemployment and under-employment among its members was at least 30% higher than official figures.
Riba's president, Sunand Prasad, said the problem was "gigantic". He added: "I would estimate that those figures represent a fraction of the reality, based on our returns, anecdotal material and our projections. And the reason is simple: construction always gets hit in the neck in a recession. It's one of the first casualties of a decline in the economy."
He predicted levels of unemployment in the industry would get worse: "Architects are a bellwether for what's going to happen to the construction industry - buildings that are not being designed today are not going to be built tomorrow."
Prasad said that in spite of the government's commitment to public projects, work had stalled because of a reliance on private finance. Riba had urged the government to "unblock the pipeline" by funding the building of schools, clinics and other public buildings directly from the exchequer for a period of three years, he said.
Riba is also pressing for a project to make social housing more energy efficient as an eco-friendly means of creating jobs. Prasad added: "The biggest danger is that we lose people that don't come back and we are unprepared when the recovery does happen. In the early 90s we lost a whole generation who went on to do other things and that's noticeable in the profession now."
The construction union Ucatt said the numbers out of work might be double the ONS figures because about half of its members were self-employed and did not qualify for some benefits.
The union wants the government to back a huge social housing building project to help create jobs in housing - the worst hit sector of the building industry - and to help the 1 million people living in inadequate accommodation.
"If the money spent on propping up the banks had been spent on social housing then the economy would be in a much healthier state," said Alan Ritchie, Ucatt's general secretary.
Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, said: "Large parts of the construction industry is on its knees.
"The GMB has asked the government to acquire unsold blocks of flats and turn them into social housing but that programme is stuck. The government needs to look again at getting it working."
The legal profession has also been badly hit. Lawyers came ninth among the professions with the biggest increases in benefits claimants - up from 350 to 1,570 over the last 12 months - an increase of 349%. Legal secretaries came 12th.
The Law Society said it had set out a detailed agenda to help solicitors survive the recession, including practical guidance for members facing redundancy, a pastoral care helpline and online seminars on "surviving the downturn".
The society's president, Paul Marsh, has also written to Revenue and Customs asking it to suspend its system of taxing law firms before they have received payment for their services.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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• Building workers' union seeks social housing boost
• Professions worst hit by the recession (pdf)
Architects are joining the ranks of benefit claimants at a faster rate than any other profession, according to a Guardian analysis of figures for the last 12 months.
Other jobs related to the construction industry, including managers, surveyors, engineers, bricklayers, carpenters and scaffolders, also feature prominently among the 20 professions that have seen the biggest increases in benefits claimants.
Construction unions and professional bodies said the actual numbers out of work were much higher than the official figures suggest and reiterated their pleas for the government to revive the industry by underwriting public building projects.
Office of National Statistics figures released this week show that between February 2008 and February 2009 the number of architects claiming benefits rose by 760% from 150 to 1,290 - the biggest increase among recorded professions.
The second biggest increase was among architectural technologists and town planning technicians.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) said the figures came as no surprise and estimated that the level of unemployment and under-employment among its members was at least 30% higher than official figures.
Riba's president, Sunand Prasad, said the problem was "gigantic". He added: "I would estimate that those figures represent a fraction of the reality, based on our returns, anecdotal material and our projections. And the reason is simple: construction always gets hit in the neck in a recession. It's one of the first casualties of a decline in the economy."
He predicted levels of unemployment in the industry would get worse: "Architects are a bellwether for what's going to happen to the construction industry - buildings that are not being designed today are not going to be built tomorrow."
Prasad said that in spite of the government's commitment to public projects, work had stalled because of a reliance on private finance. Riba had urged the government to "unblock the pipeline" by funding the building of schools, clinics and other public buildings directly from the exchequer for a period of three years, he said.
Riba is also pressing for a project to make social housing more energy efficient as an eco-friendly means of creating jobs. Prasad added: "The biggest danger is that we lose people that don't come back and we are unprepared when the recovery does happen. In the early 90s we lost a whole generation who went on to do other things and that's noticeable in the profession now."
The construction union Ucatt said the numbers out of work might be double the ONS figures because about half of its members were self-employed and did not qualify for some benefits.
The union wants the government to back a huge social housing building project to help create jobs in housing - the worst hit sector of the building industry - and to help the 1 million people living in inadequate accommodation.
"If the money spent on propping up the banks had been spent on social housing then the economy would be in a much healthier state," said Alan Ritchie, Ucatt's general secretary.
Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, said: "Large parts of the construction industry is on its knees.
"The GMB has asked the government to acquire unsold blocks of flats and turn them into social housing but that programme is stuck. The government needs to look again at getting it working."
The legal profession has also been badly hit. Lawyers came ninth among the professions with the biggest increases in benefits claimants - up from 350 to 1,570 over the last 12 months - an increase of 349%. Legal secretaries came 12th.
The Law Society said it had set out a detailed agenda to help solicitors survive the recession, including practical guidance for members facing redundancy, a pastoral care helpline and online seminars on "surviving the downturn".
The society's president, Paul Marsh, has also written to Revenue and Customs asking it to suspend its system of taxing law firms before they have received payment for their services.
- Construction industry
- Recession
- Architecture
- Unemployment and employment statistics
- Housing
- Redundancy
- Work & careers
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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