Recession - managing and planning

IfA Recession Plan

The IfA recognises that the sector is currently experiencing difficulty as a result of the economic climate. Following a meeting of Executive committee on 17 December 2008 and Council on 14 January 2009, a number of measures were put in place to assist IfA members and Registered Organisations. Some elements of the recession plan have been carried over to the next financial year.

The Recession Plan can be downloaded here.

Job Losses in Archaeology - information gathering

Late in 2008, anecdotal information was coming to the attention of the IfA that the economic decline, and in particular the slump in housing construction, was having a negative impact on commercial archaeological practice.

Together with FAME (the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers), IfA has approached a selection of archaeological employers to gather statistical data on any job losses in the sector in order to substantiate the impact of the current economic situation and to support the archaeological profession as a whole through this period of uncertainty.

We have found that the economic downturn has had a direct effect upon archaeology. While over the previous five years, the number of people working in archaeology had been expanding by approximately 4% per annum, many archaeological organisations lost staff over the six months to the end of April 2009, and there was a small increase in the first quarter of 2010.

In total, 670 archaeological jobs were lost in the two quarters from 1st October 2008 to 1st April 2009, representing one in six (16.5%) of the jobs in commercial archaeology and 10% of the entire UK archaeological workforce. Over the following quarter (until July 1 2009) the figures remained unchanged, the number of people loosing their jobs was roughly equal to those who gained new employment, and over the next quarter there was a small "bounce" in the figures as the job market responded to infrastructure projects that had been bought forward. In the following quarter (to the end of 2009) the number of archaeologists in work dropped back to the number at the end of April 2009, and there was a small increase in the first quarter of 2010, though the number of archaeologists employed is still 9% below the levels in August 2007.

During the last quarter of 2008 it was larger organisations (those employing more than 50 individuals) who were hit the hardest. During the first quarter of 2009, it was smaller organisations (employing less than 20) that were most badly affected. Throughout this entire period it has been field staff that have been the most badly affected and fieldwork skills that have been lost. Business confidence did over time, with more organisations now expecting conditions to improve rather than deteriorate, but in the first half of 2010 it started to decrease.

The report covering the last quarter of 2008 can be downloaded here
The report covering the first quarter of 2009 can be downloaded here
The report covering the second quarter of 2009 can be downloaded here
The report covering the third quarter of 2009 can be downloaded here
The report covering the last quarter of 2009 can be downloaded here
The report covering the first quarter of 2010 can be downloaded here.

we will continue to track changes in the situation until further notice.

IfA Recession Seminar - February 2009 - Museum at Docklands, London

As mentioned in the Recession plan, IfA organised a seminar to discuss ways of for individuals and organisations can best plan to survive the recession. The following is a brief report of the day.

Report of the day

Text of Noel Fojut's presentation

Powerpoint of Kenneth Aitchison's presentation

Text of Kenneth Aitchison's presentation

Alister Dryburg's Leadership paper and Lean not mean paper

Handout from the Alister Dryburg's presentation

Text of Stewart Bryant's presentation

IfA/ALGAO/FAME meeting

On 23 March 2009, representatives of IfA, ALGAO and FAME met to agree how the three organisations will work together to get through the recession. The minutes of this meeting can be downloaded here

Note for Administrators and Liquidators of Archaeological Organisations

IfA hopes that none of its members will ever need to refer administrators and liquidators to an advice note on what to do when an archaeological organisation becomes insolvent or goes into administration, but should that situation arise information is now available from IfA.

The note can be downloaded here. Please contact us if you have any questions or require further help and advice.