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The current situation of architecture school graduates struggling to find work is all too familiar to Saundra Stevens. She saw the same thing happen in the early 1980s, when a recession forced architecture graduates to find work in other professions.

鈥淭hey were called the 鈥榣ost generation,’ said Stevens, the president of the . 鈥淚t’s a term still used widely across the country for those who just never came back. Unfortunately, it looks like that may happen again here.鈥�

Local architecture firm principals, school officials and students agree that the current recession has forced many recent graduates to seek work elsewhere. However, some also say the concept of a 鈥渓ost generation鈥� 鈥� both then and now 鈥� may be exaggerated.

The reality in the ’80s was that jobs for architects were hard to find in a recession-hit Portland, so many graduates ended up taking low-level drafting positions or going overseas, according to architect Bill Bailey.

鈥淭he outlook was you either had to go to Alaska, Texas or Southern California. If you wanted to stay around here, you had to look really hard and, if you got lucky, take positions that were very entry level,鈥� said Bailey, who graduated in 1983 from the . 鈥淏ut I actually wasn’t seeing that 鈥榣ost generation’ piece.鈥�

Bailey, now a principal at , was one of those architecture graduates in the ’80s who took a low-level drafting position with the firm that is now . Most of his peers also found ways to stay within the industry after graduation, he said.

Many recent architecture graduates are finding the old strategies hold true in the current tough market. The University of Oregon is working to establish a number of programs that allow graduates to work as interns overseas, said Karen Johnson, assistant dean of the university’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts.

Although local firms are still struggling, some also have managed to provide a handful of opportunities. Both and , for example, said they have hired recent college graduate for entry-level positions.

But even finding an entry-level position is no guarantee that graduates will be able to hold onto those industry jobs. Many industry expertsregard the most recent recession as being harsher for the architecture industry than the one in the ’80s. Firms have made deeper cuts and the construction industry has been much slower to improve, according to Bailey and other architects. As a result, many graduates in intern or entry-level positions may be let go in the future.

Additionally, there are those who will not find work at all. Some recent graduates are looking at leaving architecture permanently to take jobs in other industries, according to Alex Porter, a recent graduate of the University of Oregon.

鈥淲hen you’re looking at a recession that has lasted, is lasting, as long as this one, I would say that is cause for concern,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淚 love this profession, but I can’t pay my rent on that.鈥�

Porter had to work for free for a firm to get his foot in the door; only recently was he able to sign a contract with . Many of his peers also are doing what they can to stay in touch with the industry, whether it’s taking jobs in architecture-related fields or working at Target until the economy starts to improve.

鈥淭he people that are really driven are going to come back to architecture and those are the ones that are going to rise to the top,鈥� said Nels Hall, a principal at .

Hall speaks from first-hand experience. He was working at in the ’80s, but was let go when the recession hit. He decided to stick with architecture and eventually found work with another Portland firm that was designing a project in Sudan.

鈥淚 would say to (recent graduates) to just be diligent and keep at it,鈥� Hall said. 鈥淵ou may have to be at the right place at the right time, but opportunities will come.鈥�