Having difficulty filling key positions? I wish I could say that recruiting is going to get easier, but the AEC industry faces some daunting personnel challenges over the next decade and beyond. Demographics and new opportunities for design professionals in other industries are conspiring to make staffing an even bigger challenge in the years ahead. And that's saying quite a bit.

The biggest short-term staffing challenge is finding and retaining talented 20-year professionals with leadership and client management skills. These professionals are critical to firm growth, so it's no surprise that they are, and will continue to be, in high demand. What is surprising is that some owners are concerned that fewer professionals at this level are interested in top leadership and ownership positions than there were in recent decades. This is a looming ownership transition challenge.

Looking further into the future, as the 77 million baby boomer generation heads into retirement, the next generation of workers (so-called "Gen-Xers" in the 25-40 year-old age group) numbers only about 44 million. To make matters worse, the AEC field faces stiff competition for engineering and technical talent from disciplines such as computer and electronics engineering, product design, biotech, and biomedical engineering.

Enrollment in college architecture programs has decreased slightly in recent years, according to the AIA. In 2002, there were about 18,000 full-time students, down from 22,700 students in 2000 and 21,000 students in 1995. Engineering enrollment has risen slightly, but the increase is attributable to more students in high-tech programs. In addition, there are increasing opportunities for design professionals in other fields such as health care, where organizations want designers on staff to plan for and guide expansion and rehab work. In short, the pool of potential candidates is not increasing while the opportunities for those in A/E programs are expanding.

It's also becoming increasingly clear that Gen Xers have different attitudes than their predecessors regarding work and careers. We've written before about how and why this group is less loyal to companies and highly values firms that accommodate their work/life demands through policies such as flextime and telecommuting.

What this all means is staffing is becoming even more critical to strategic planning, and firms are going to have to consider revamping some of their personnel policies to attract talented next-generation leaders. Here are some steps that will help meet the challenge:

Analyze your needs
Strategic planning for staffing needs starts with an assessment of the composition of the workforce. Firms need to develop a five-to-ten-year forecast of personnel needs based on their demographics, projected turnover, and anticipated promotions. Then, focus recruiting on anticipated areas of skills shortages and leadership voids.

Beef up recruiting efforts
Start building a strong bench by developing pools of talent, particularly in areas that will be key to future growth. Build or expand your college recruiting function by cultivating relationships with local A/E schools. Make on-campus visits to talk to students about opportunities in the field and at your firm. Make appearances at high school career days and even visit groups of younger students to promote the A/E profession.

Build and promote your employment brand
Firms that are able to develop and tout a reputation as a good place to work will have an edge in attracting talent. If you revamp some of your personnel policies to include such benefits as flextime and telecommuting, make sure you get the word out. Send out press releases and encourage your employees to talk up significant new benefit policies at professional group gatherings and other networking events.

Attracting foreign talent
With the numbers of potential American recruits looking inadequate to fill anticipated demand, many firms are likely to turn their attention abroad. While it might strike some as unpatriotic to turn to foreign workers to fill jobs in US firms, demographics, as we've seen, may make this a necessity before long. Some of the options include:

• Hiring non-citizen college graduates on work permits. Some firms may sponsor these individuals for green cards.
• Creating teams of US and non-US professionals to work on international projects.
• Exporting work abroad - the controversial offshore outsourcing option.
• Creating partnerships with design institutes overseas to lay the groundwork for those professionals to come to the US to work.