RIBA report finds "many" architecture professionals not paid Real Living Wage

A report published by the Royal Institute of British Architects has revealed low pay, poor mental health and a culture of unpaid overtime across the industry.

Released earlier this week by RIBA, the Workplace Conditions and Wellbeing report gathered data from over 1,450 people in practice last year.

The survey found that the majority of architecture professionals in the UK are not being paid the Real Living Wage, as outlined by the Real Living Wage Foundation, despite this being a requirement for all RIBA chartered practices.

"Low wages, combined with unpaid extra hours means that many are not receiving the Real Living Wage and are having to rely on other sources of income to make ends meet," said RIBA.

This is due to low wages combined with unpaid extra hours, with 90 per cent of practice employees regularly working overtime – two-thirds of which do so without extra pay or compensation.

Young people and early-career professionals were identified as the most affected group, with 76 per cent of Part 1 Architectural Assistants and 13 per cent of Part 2 Architectural Assistants being paid less than the living wage.

RIBA president "hugely concerned"

In light of the report, the RIBA has set a plan to improve the working culture in architecture practices, which will include reviewing its Code of Practice and embedding "the principles of fair remuneration" into the training and development offered to its chartered practices.

"I'm hugely concerned about what this research has unearthed," said RIBA president Muyiwa Oki. "I'm determined that RIBA should play a major role in helping turn things around."

"We want to attract architecture specialists from all backgrounds so that our built environment works for and reflects the needs of the wider society, clearly having a working culture that favours more established architects and people who don't have young children or other caring responsibilities is detrimental to that, so as a membership body we must do all we can to address the issue."

Majority of workers dissatisfied with current pay and conditions

Further findings revealed that 55 per cent of those who work in practice reported being dissatisfied with their current pay and conditions.

Low salaries mean that employees are having to rely on additional sources of income to meet living costs.

This is most true for early-career professionals, with data revealing that 61 per cent of Part 1 assistants, 43 per cent of Part 2 assistants and 43 per cent of newly qualified architects rely on an additional source of income. These groups are also more likely to rely on extra income from family.

While more apparent in junior roles, the report highlights that over a quarter of architects qualified for five years or more also rely on an additional source of income.

Long hours were reported to be common across all experience levels of those surveyed, with results exposing the industry's culture of unpaid overtime.

Findings of the RIBA report revealed that, on average, 42 per cent of respondents who were employees in practice work 44 hours a week on a 37.5-hour contract, while 43 per cent work 45 hours or more.

Just 11 per cent of respondents reported working 35-39 hours per week.

"There is a general feeling that you must do what it takes to get the work done," one respondent said.

Additional data collection on mental health revealed that 54 per cent of practice staff view their role as detrimental to their health and wellbeing, with such reports also being more common among young and early career staff.

The report was carried out following a request from members of the RIBA Council.

Recently, data revealed from this year's UK gender pay reporting saw pay gaps drop dramatically at Zaha Hadid Architects.

In other architecture news, Maggie's CEO Laura Lee has defended HB Architects' design for a cancer care centre in Liverpool and a skyscraper set to feature classical details is under construction in Manhattan.

The photo is courtesy of RIBA.

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