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It’s no secret that in Portland, experienced architects are in short supply and high demand.

Some firms are being forced to turn away business while all are trying innovative ways to attract talent and deal with the gap in the talent pool. That can mean giving bonuses for employee referrals, spending more time mentoring younger employees, hiring strategically for certain projects and touting Portland’s livability to people outside the area.

Natasha Koiv, associate principal at SERA Architects, said her firm is learning to be flexible because architects with seven or eight years of experience are so scarce in the rebound following the recession.

鈥淭hey either got out of the profession or left town or might have started their own firm or started a construction company,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ther related activities have drawn people out of the profession, but we’ve been looking across all levels of team support.鈥�

To help meet that need, Koiv said her firm has learned to make 鈥渟trategic hires鈥� for specific projects.

SERA has hired about 45 architects in the past 18 months, Koiv said, and plans to hire even more architects as well as urban planners and designers by the end of the year.

鈥淚t could even be a busier year next year,鈥� she said.

For Bill Hart of Carleton Hart Architecture, that’s good news and bad. For more than a year, Hart has tried 鈥� unsuccessfully 鈥� to fill two positions: a project manager architect with 10 years of experience and a project architect with at least seven years of experience.

鈥淓verybody is long distance and you wait until somebody wants to come to Portland,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey line up a bunch of interviews and might rattle off 10 interviews while they’re here, so you try to get them before they get to the next interview.鈥�

Seasoned applicants get snapped up quickly, he said.

Hart has about 30 architects on staff, and bigger firms like ZGF Architects, with a total staff of 265, are also feeling the pinch for experienced professionals. ZGF managing partner Jan Willemse said his firm has hired between 65 and 70 design professionals since the beginning of 2014, but experienced architects are elusive.

鈥淚t’s especially difficult and we recruit nationally, even internationally in the digital world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to because of our size.鈥�

Scott Kruse, Northwest regional director for DLR Group, said the firm asked its own employees for help by giving them a $1,000 incentive to bring in experienced talent.

鈥淚t’s really difficult to find good architects as opposed to what it was seven years ago,鈥� he said.

Hennebery Eddy Architects principal Alan Osborne said his firm has hired six people this year 鈥� three with at least five years of experience and three recent graduates. Portland’s attractiveness has helped the firm, he said.

鈥淚n Portland we’re really fortunate it is now a destination place because we’re not producing enough local architects and have to import people from across the country,鈥� he said.

Robert Hoffman, executive vice president of the American Institute of Architects’ Portland chapter, said the booming economy is good for all architecture firms.

鈥淧ound for pound, we have such an incredible collection of firms,鈥� he said. 鈥淧ortland is seen as a leader in sustainability and design.鈥�

But while the recession has had lingering effects, Hoffman said, firms have been innovative in becoming more effective and efficient.

鈥淪ome are rebranding and acknowledging a new generation of leadership,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome came on board during the bad years, but a lot of them are flourishing now, and younger architects are coming into leadership.鈥�

One young architect, Michael Riscica, got his architect’s license last year after working as a capital improvement project manager for the city for the past four years. He quit about two weeks ago and plans to open his own firm, Michael Riscica Architects, next month.

鈥淚 wasn’t even aware there was a shortage,鈥� he said.

Brian Cavanaugh, principal and co-founder of Architecture Building Culture, received the Young Architects Award in 2012 from AIA Portland. In the long run, he said, young architects will pick up the slack left by departing seasoned architects.

鈥淧eople lose jobs and leave the profession and that creates a void with a certain level of experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut that’s where younger staff has an incredible opportunity, and suddenly you have voids that younger staff can fill.鈥�

Cavanaugh said he gets a lot of resumes, mostly from outside of Portland. But he frets that many of the recent graduates didn’t get the training they need to hit the ground running.

鈥淢y general frustration is not because of the recession, but it’s more an issue of academia,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o what degree are graduates hirable? Can they immediately engage in practice right out of school? That’s generally not the case.鈥�