Dive Brief:
-
Landscape architecture firms logged more billable hours, hired more employees and received more inquiries from potential clients in the first quarter of 2015, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects Business Quarterly survey released on Tuesday.
-
More than 82% of the firms reported "stable to significantly higher" billable hours in the first three months of the year, up from about 74% in the previous quarter, the report said.
-
In addition, the landscape professionals said more than half of commercial clients who choose sustainable designs do so to meet government requirements. Others go green to save money on utility bills; reduce environmental harm; or add market cache.
Dive Insight:
The positive numbers "suggest … an industry-wide spring thaw has arrived," the society said in a press release. That optimism appears to be translating into jobs: The survey noted that of firms with two or more employees, 61.54% said they planned to hire during the second quarter of 2015. That's up from 50.63% n the previous quarter.