Areas such as London and Scotland facing recruitment issues

Practices are now beginning to find it difficult to fill posts in employment hotspots, according to the latest Future Trends survey.

Workloads between July 2013 and last month grew by 10%, the survey added, driven by the private housing and commercial sectors.

RIBA director of practice Adrian Dobson said: “We are seeing the first evidence of practices having difficulty recruiting staff with specific skill sets, particularly in areas experiencing stronger economic growth such as London and the South East and north east Scotland.”

The percentage of respondents reporting that they had personally been under-employed was down to 12% and Dobson said the spare capacity within the profession is gradually being eroded as workloads increase.

Crane

Strongly performing regions such as London and Scotland are facing issues getting hold of staff

Overall confidence among architects slipped slightly last month, with the workload index falling to +28, down from the +34 recorded in June.

But Dobson added: “The outlook for architects’ services continues to improve steadily. However, our practices are still reporting significant competitive pressure on fees and profit margins on projects remain very tight.”

The balance figures for London and Scotland – the most optimistic regions – were +38 and +33 respectively. Practices located in Wales and the West were the most cautious about prospects for future workloads, returning a balance figure of +12.