Exodus hits architecture profession
December 10, 2008 11:44 am by pna
CEBU CITY, Dec. 10 – A leader of the architecture profession has expressed alarm over an increasing trend of architects leaving the country to work abroad or work in Philippine-based outsourcing companies that offer lucrative pay.
Architect Alan Choachuy, United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) district director for Cebu (C-1), said he noted that several new architecture graduates would immediately look for jobs abroad, like Singapore, or get employed as draftsmen in outsourcing companies that cater to the United States or other foreign markets.
He said that in Philippine-based companies, a fresh graduate would earn an average of P70 to P100 per hour while an experienced professional would likely get about P500 per hour.
He said there is nothing wrong with working for outsourcing companies, but he lamented over the idea that the skills acquired in school by architects would not be fully utilized if they do not practice their profession as licensed architects.
Choachuy also observed that some architecture graduates, after working for several years abroad, would come back to the country with enough financial resources, but are already too tired to take the licensure exam that, if they pass, would give them a gateway to legally practice their profession.
”It’s recommended to take the board licensure exam, to learn the hard way and work for an architecture firm where the pay may not be as lucrative as the pay abroad or as much as that in outsourcing companies,” he said.
The trend of architects working abroad or in outsourcing companies has created a shortage of draftsmen and apprentices in the country.
UAP, an integrated and accredited organization with 8,000 to 9,000 active members out of more than 20,000 architects in the country, tried to address this by promoting the use of software, like AutoCAD Revit Architecture and Google SketchUp, that will help architects improve their work. (PNA)
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