A source who may have spent a little too much time with a chainsaw after Hurricane Ike reports on industry conditions: “It is super bad out there right now. Lending has absolutely ground to a halt. Most of my peers have almost zero pipeline beyond existing signed contracts or institutional work (esp. schools). [The Houston office of architecture firm] Gensler had layoffs this past week, though I would call laying off 16 people ‘trimming the dead limbs off the tree.’” [Swamplot inbox]
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4 Comments
Remember 1986? So many great firms were moving out of Houston then.
This is not 1986. Energy prices are still high and Houston has created 55,700 non-farm jobs in the last 12 months, more than any other metropolitan area in the country. This is more analogous to 1973-1975. It also seems unlikely that we’re facing a repeat of the RTC days.
That isn’t to say that we’re completely immune to the financial crisis, but we’re most definitely in better shape than a comparison to 1986 would imply.
Oh yes, I see that. Houston is larger and more diversified than in 1986. (Maybe I feel worried because I’m twenty years older now and perceive I have more to lose.)
16 isn’t that big a deal, unless of course you’re one of the 16. a source who works there tells me gensler has downsized in staff from 300 down to around 200 over the past several months.