When considering potential careers, there are a few things to research. We called upon an expertInterior Decorator in Phoenix and Chandler Arizona to help us understand the industry. What are the qualifications required for a certain profession? What is the salary range for that particular field? What is the job outlook after receiving the required qualifications and experience?
For Interior Designers, the answer to the last afore mentioned question is a bit misleading. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), job growth (meaning how many positions are expected to be open) is projected to be only 4%. That is 4-percentage points below the national average job growth rate. That is according to the BLS. According to Schools.com, job growth is supposed to be 13%. That is 5-percentage points above the national average job growth rate. Why is there a discrepancy between the numbers?
When determining job growth statistics, there are two common periods of time to project: Five years and ten years. The BLS rate is calculated at the five-year period. Schools.com is calculated at a ten-year period. Even though both are interior design statistics estimating future job prospects for the same profession, they turn out two very different statistics. One projects a significant decrease in the profession, while the other projects an even more significant increase.

 

To understand this, further inspection of how the statistic is calculated is needed.
Job growth takes into consideration three statistical figures. One, how many professionals are currently in the profession? Second, when are those professionals expected to retire? Third, what has been past demand for the relevant professionals in correlation with the current demand? The five-year model indicates a significant decline in the profession because only a few interior designers are expected to retire in that time period. The ten-year model indicates a good amount of interior designers retiring and fresh college graduates taking those positions.
Even though the ten-year model indicates positive above average growth, caution must be heeded to mistakenly believing a sudden influx of interior designer jobs is forth coming. The 14% job growth is based on the current employment numbers, which aren’t many. Therefore, despite the positive job growth, it is only growth of a small number of current jobs. Thus, there will not be a great boom in interior designer positions available ten-years from now. Gaining fulltime employment in this niche field will continue to be a challenge.
The small increase in openings is projected to occur because of the trend towards consumer desire for more environmentally friendly and efficient living spaces. The focus on environmentally friendly living spaces will focus on reducing the amount of water utilized in both the kitchen and bathroom and reducing the amount of electricity needed throughout the home. Current trends are toilets with “environmental flush” and “normal flush” options provided and faucets with timers.
Other trends include wall-to-wall wood flooring with throw-rugs to replace carpet, Pascal-colored curtains on every window, and foot activated faucets. Interior designers will be needed to identify new solutions and fill this increasing consumer demand.
Considering the trend in consumer demands, individuals wanting to become interior designers may want to gain professional expertise of restroom accessories and hvac equipment. Having a technical understanding of potential products will help in providing successful interior design services.
Professionals, to gain an edge on competition for the limited jobs in the field, might consider entering a joint program. Appropriate joint programs would combine construction management and interior design, or architecture and interior design. Either a construction management or architecture degree would provide a functional understanding of an interior designers future colleagues. Interior designers often work for construction management and architecture firms.
Another reason for a joint degree would be to separate oneself from completing job seekers. Employers increasingly designer cross-sectional expertise, meaning a well-rounded employee who can perform tasks across a broad spectrum rather than being constrained to a single discipline. As such cross-sectional expertise becomes more of a necessity, the future of interior design may be as a specification within either disciplines of architecture or construction management.