U.S. engineering firms hit record profits

A survey by ZweigWhite, a management consulting company in the U.S., architecture and engineering firms are seeing record profits.
The firm’s 2007 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms, indicates that firms’ median pre-tax, pre-bonus profit margins reached a record high of 14.0%. This is a record high for the third straight year.
In the press release announcing the survey, a spokesperson from ZweigWhite noted that the figures, “reflect what we’ve been seeing and hearing among our consulting clients. Other than a few isolated pockets (such as residential development), the overall economy has continued to be strong, and design and environmental firms are benefiting from the increased demand for their services. … The only damper we’re witnessing is the difficulty most firms are having hiring and retaining key people.”