TZL 1532

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OPINION

AEC industry experts shed light on key topics for firm leaders, from employee compensation, career growth, and AI integration. From the Zweig Group roundtable

Z weig Group recently held a roundtable discussion where our service area experts met to discuss client questions and the overall AEC landscape today. This year, the AEC industry anticipates significant transformations, leading the assembled team to discuss topics around facilitating and organizing growth, recruitment and retention, and employee engagement amongst many others.

Luke Carothers

HOTTEST TOPIC: EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION. According to Zweig Group’s consultants, firms can’t afford to be caught off guard when it comes to compensation. They need to be on target to stay competitive. Here are some top compensation concerns this year: ■ Decision makers assessing compensation for new hires versus tenured staff. There’s a highly competitive marketplace out there, so how are companies meeting new hire expectations? One of the problems that leadership is seeing is that new hires are expecting compensation that’s equal to tenured staff who have, say, 10 years’ experience.

■ Compensation debt. How far behind or ahead are companies in resetting their whole staff’s compensation from entry-level up? Firms must be prepared to reset people in larger ways than expected, while still maintaining positive retention numbers. Keeping talent is the main priority. ■ Locked into fee structures. Some firms find they’re locked into a fee structure with their client for years (e.g. hourly versus flat). How can that be changed? Can they build into a contract

See LUKE CAROTHERS, page 4

THE ZWEIG LETTER APRIL 8, 2024, ISSUE 1532

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