Any other comments?
All the spontaneous responses to the last question of the survey carried out in 2012.
- “I really hope that Graduate students get treated with respect and with fair pay and hours. This is not healthy and not sustainable for our generation.”
- “The system in Belgium is different from the one in Holland. As a recent graduate you have to work for 2 years as an intern to become an architect. For that reason I am seen as an intern,paid as an intern (a bit better) but according Dutch rules I am not. Besides that, almost all architects in Belgium work freelance and get the overhours paid. So the contract I have is the worst: freelance, so no insurance and a fixed income, instead of one that relates to your working hours. But I agreed with it myself and until now i didn’t have a lot of overhours…”
- “no”
- “right now I am lucky I have a good job, BUT in the past I also had to do an internship at an office as a graduate architect with a master. This office was in Delft, with approximately 100 employees where 10% at least is interns and then half of them at least are graduates.”
- “Before having the year contract that I have now, I did 3 postgraduate internships. In total 1 and half year of internships (in 3 diff erent offi ces in The Netherlands) with average income 700 euros.”
- “Overwork is to general. I would make it more specific. Which percentage of your overwork do you get compensated? Is compensation generally regulated or dependend on individuals (project leader,…)? I would add a question on the position? How many years working experience compared to the function in the office…”
- “great work! keep it up!”
- “It is a great initiative! I was thinking with a friend of mine to do something similar. My working condition are not that bad, but I know about people working for big offices 80hours/week (!!!) on 40hours contract. Overhours unpaid. Can not call such offices different than Architecture Sweatshops.”
- “In addition to working underpaid and also working unpaid overhours, there are issues concerning for example health insurance and pension contributions, transportation expenses and even lunch and dinners…”
- “The offices I work in are small and flexible so no contracts, no agreements on hours, there is a lot of ‘overtime’ but at the same time I am not a prisoner and can do my own stuff when I want, and the partners of the fi rm are friendly and dedicated. What is missing in my opinion is higher salary!”
- “It is horrible to see how offices exploit young professionals. Some get a contract as an intern, while actually they have graduated already. Others with up to 6 years of work experience get a contract for ‘work-experience-place’; they can’t name it internship, but in this way they are able to have them work for the office without a normal wage. For the rest I saw that offices when faced with the end of the last temporary contract, they didn’t want to give permanent contracts, so they didn’t give them any contract. The employee was unemployed, but the office already said to them ‘don’t look for a job. We’ll hire you back after three months’. The offices say that this is completely legal, but I have my doubts about this.”
- “Create your own job!”
- “Because of the poor working conditions I’m currently also working in a bar to compensate for insecurity I have. Sometimes it is expected (required) to work 60 – 80 hours a week, and the next there are no projects so there is no security. Secondly I’m (almost) required to register at KvK to be able for them not to pay for social security, essentially I’m working for myself without being able to pay for social security as well, because otherwise I cannot be self supportive”
- “internship sucks”
- “great survey, curious to see the result”
- “in general, in this office, they propose you a first contract of internship for 450 euros per month, then another 6 months of internship for 800 euros per month and if there is still enough work for you then you have a contract for one year as an architect with the minimal income.But I have to admit that if you negotiate you can have better conditions. I worked the first 6 months as an intern for 600 euros netto, then the next 6 months contract I negotiated 1000 euros netto per month as an intern but because of my application to the WWIK, I asked for 800 euros bruto that means 672 euros netto, 200euros extra black money the last 3 months, plus 480 euros subsidies.Just to let you know how things go. This office is well organised so you don’t have crazy hours but still you work 50 hours at least per week.”
- “Good initiative!!!! I changed jobs this year. The main reason was personal, I felt stuck in architecture (I am not an architect but an engineer…) so I wanted something more technical. But I started to have trouble with the office policies as well. One of which is underpaying employees which in my opinion is a form of slavery…”
- “I’m only one month working in this office, so I cannot judge working hours. However, I think the office I’m working in is particularly considerate to its employees.”
- “great work!”
- “I only made a design for my parents who want to built a new home, this is why it was well payed and with “normal” working hours.”
- “because of the crisis tho offices abuse of the contract and SALARY, but working is healthier than to do nothing and feel useless.”
- “I currently consider myself very fortunate to be working here under my current circumstances, not a lot of overtime, no unnecessary overtime (bosses are not pretentious, just realistic) and a fair enough monetary remuneration (up to the offices possibility under crisis circumstances). This is rarely true for other architects my age. I have been offered numerous 300 euro internships with no possibility of a long term contract before finding this. It is absurd and embarrassing for the profession.”
- “I do not care becoming rich as long as I manage to draw beauty!”
- “In general another world is possible”
- “The office wasn’t too bad in terms of hours worked, occasionally we did have to work longer hours although if it ran into a few days we might be compensated in terms of time off — but we would receive perhaps one hour off for every 4 or 5 we worked extra. Often felt excluded from any decision-making process, not just making them but even explaining the reasons behind decisions would have been appreciated rather than simply having orders passed down the line to us.”
- “Since I am not graduated yet, I am really doing an internship and it is not considering as a job! thanks”
- “About the question of the compensation for my overwork, I asked I do not receive any compensation. Actually I have 1 hour every 3 overworking hours. But I could not call this a compensation. Over all when you cannot even choose when to take those compensation days off.”
- “overwork is compensated usually with time off. this office didn’t always have such a high percentage of interns, i would say usually it’s about 20 – 30%. in the first 6 months I was paid 500 euros netto. the salary has been raised from the 7th month on, after I was asked to extend my internship. there’s no perspective to have a proper contract, in fact I ́m gonna have to leave the office by March (in fact they will be 15 months of internship, 9 of which paid as intern “plus” = 800 euros). p.s. this is my 4th internship since I’m graduated (2 of them were in Italy).”
- “The intensive use of interns contracts is degrading. The interns are considered as raw material, graduated architects are hired as interns without any possibility of progressing in the company. Once these interns meet their 6 month contract they are offered to renew his contract as intern or they are replaced by new qualified architects hired as interns again. Only students of architecture should be hired as interns as part of their learning experience, architects with working experience and recent graduates should be offered, at least, a junior contract with an initial trial period, so that people have expectations of working more than 6 months in the company.”
- “free your hands, free your mind”
- “yes, in the office they say that there are not work, but, how is possible? I’m WORKING like an architect…”
- “I’m happy to have a real job but, it is a not fair contract is only for three months and before I sign it, my boss warned me that working hours will be twice the signed. I know that by law is 30 hours a week, but if I still want to have a job as an architect after this period of 3 month, I have to work 60 hours a week to keep my position. I have been only studying Architecture during 6 years. Because i like, and now, it seems that there are not work… but, there are, because I’m working, and very hard!”
- “none”
- “Mijn complimenten voor de keuze voor dit onderzoek, ik ben benieuwd naar de uitkomsten. Zelf heb ik nooit slechte ervaringen gehad bij het bureau waar ik werkte, maar ik hoor wel veel slechte verhalen om me heen. Misschien is de enquête daarom voor mij niet helemaal relevant. Mede door de vreemde aanbiedingen (zogenaamde leerplekken, stages etc.) die mij gedaan werden bij het zoeken van een nieuwe baan, heb ik ervoor gekozen een andere weg in te slaan. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat dit goed bevalt. Meer perspectief hebben en het gevoel hebben dat er energie in gestoken wordt om mij dingen te leren voelt beter dan het idee inwisselbaar te zijn.”
- “Momentarily there are no interns working, but they are actively searching for one.”