One in five architecture and design workers planning to leave industry

A fifth of people working in architecture and design expect to leave their field soon amid discontent over high workloads and low pay, Dezeen's working-conditions survey has found.

Dezeen's survey gathering information about the wellbeing and job satisfaction of the global design and architecture workforce received more than 450 responses from people in 64 different countries.

Among them, only a quarter (26 per cent) said they "definitely want to stay working in the field for the long term".

Meanwhile, 11 per cent expect to leave within the next five years, and a further nine per cent are already actively seeking to leave – one in five of the total respondents.

Twenty-four per cent indicated they have no current plans to leave but do not rule it out, while only 29 per cent said they currently intend to stay working in the field for the foreseeable future.

This uncertainty over the prospect of a future working in architecture and design appears to stem from frustrations about certain aspects of the job – particularly pay and overtime.

Workplace culture issues

Despite most respondents to the survey (73 per cent) saying they either "definitely" or "mostly" enjoy their job, these emerged as key issues for the majority of people.

Nearly half (45 per cent) said they feel "somewhat underpaid" and an additional one in four (25 per cent) reporting feeling "severely underpaid". Just 29 per cent indicated they are satisfied with their remuneration.

Around two-thirds (66 per cent) of respondents reported regularly having to do unpaid overtime. Among these, nine per cent said they do unpaid overtime every day, and 15 per cent said they do so most days. The rest of the 66 per cent said they do so between twice a week and once a month.

Four in five (80 per cent) said they have experienced unrealistic expectations of work in the last five years.

Our survey also pointed to widespread cultural issues within architecture and design workplaces.

For example, 61 per cent of respondents reported witnessing or experiencing rude, belittling or demeaning behaviour in the last five years.

More than half (52 per cent) reported unnecessarily harsh criticism of work and 30 per cent have witnessed or experienced bullying.

Sexism and misogyny emerged as a major concern, with 107 (49 per cent) of 217 women respondents to the survey saying they have witnessed instances of these at work in the last five years.

Among 97 respondents who consider themselves to be part of an ethnic minority in the country they work in, 19 (20 per cent) reported witnessing or experiencing racism.

Around three-quarters of respondents to our survey worked for architecture studios, but plenty were at engineering firms, design studios, interior design studios, property developers and brands.

Answers came from an even spread ranging from those just starting out in their careers to top-level members of staff. Responses were gathered over a six-week period from 14 October to 24 November 2024.

For a more detailed discussion of the survey findings including charts, click here.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. The illustration is by Marie Mohanna.

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