The Flexible Firm: Staffing Independent Contractors to Navigate Risk and Workload
AIAU26-PMKC01
Included in subscription
1
LU
Live course date: 08/12/2026 | 02:00 PM
Included in subscription
Description
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Architecture firms often face unpredictable workloads and resulting staffing challenges. New projects come and go , specialized expertise may be needed temporarily, and future staffing demand is uncertain. Used strategically, independent contractors can help firms create a more resilient practice capable of adapting its capacity, skills, and geographic reach without resorting to cycles of frantic hiring, overwork, and layoffs. When independent contractors can achieve the life-balance they are seeking, everybody wins.
Through examples from sole practitioners, a small remote firm, and a large architecture practice, this course examines how firms use independent contractors to expand capacity, access specialized skills, respond to workload surges, and accommodate different ways of working. Panelists will share several approaches, including direct contracting, staffing agencies, project-based collaboration, and contractor-to-employee transitions. Participants will also explore worker-classification requirements, jurisdictional differences, cultural and operational challenges, and lessons learned from models that did, and did not, work as intended. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for determining when independent contractors are an appropriate staffing strategy and how to use them to strengthen practice resilience while reducing business and compliance risks.
Learning Objectives
Compare independent contractor staffing models used by architecture firms of different sizes and identify which approaches best align with specific workload, expertise, and capacity needs.
Distinguish independent contractors from employees and identify key classification, jurisdictional, and regulatory considerations that can create compliance risk.
Evaluate the business and workforce tradeoffs of using independent contractors, including cost, continuity, flexibility, quality control, knowledge transfer, and firm culture.
Develop a practical approach for selecting, engaging, and integrating independent contractors while establishing clear expectations for scope, communication, accountability, and project delivery.
Identify flexible engagement strategies for firms to retain or re-engage professionals whose caregiving responsibilities, geographic needs, cost-of-living challenges, or other life-changing circumstances make traditional full-time employment less workable.
Presented in partnership with the Practice Management Knowledge Community (PMKC).
Jennifer Kretschmer, FAIA, NCARB, LEED Green Associate, Certified Passive House Designer, founded J. Kretschmer Architect in 2003, specializing in single family and multi-family residential projects under 10,000 square feet.
Her firm has been a virtual office since 2008 which she has operated primarily from her home in the Silicon Valley area of California with workers located all over the United States.
Jennifer was a speaker at the AIA’19 Conference on Architecture and 2019 CRAN Symposium bringing valued information, inspiration and training to architects on operating a virtual office with remote workers. She continues this work with a course on virtual practice at the Practice of Architecture and speaking engagements through 2020 and 2021.
Awarded AIA National Associate Member of the Year, 2002. She is the founding CRAN chairperson of the AIA Silicon Valley (2016-2019, 2022-present) and the 2020 AIASVC Vice President, 2021 AIASVC President. Involved with AIACA in the Housing Steering Committee and the Practice Management Committee was the 2024 Chair of the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community. She was elevated to the College of Fellows in 2026.
Leah Alissa Bayer, AIA, is an architect, business leader, and advocate focused on reshaping how architectural practice works, and who it works for. She is President of Architects FORA, a fully virtual, women-owned practice advancing affordable housing through research-driven design and progressive business practices. Trained to design for health, safety, and welfare, Leah extends those obligations to the people behind the work, pushing the profession to care for its teams as deliberately as it cares for its buildings. A nationally recognized keynote speaker on resilient and future-focused practice models, Leah received the 2023 AIA California Young Architect Award. A Cal Poly San Luis Obispo alumna and volunteer leader for more than a decade, her recent service includes the AIA Governance Task Force, YAF Summit Steering Committee, AIA Strategic Council, AIA California Board, AIA Silicon Valley Past President, and NCARB’s Futures Collaborative.
Stephanie Silkwood is the Managing Principal of RMW architecture & interiors’ office in San Jose, California. Known for her innovative and collaborative leadership, Stephanie has earned the trust of top Silicon Valley companies. Her work supports the development of cutting-edge technologies in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment. Throughout her career in her 130-person firm, Stephanie has shaped RMW’s culture, client relationships, and design practice while mentoring emerging professionals, promoting equity, and advancing leadership development within the firm.
Beyond her contributions to RMW, Stephanie has dedicated significant service to the profession through the American Institute of Architects, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and the California Architects Board. Notable among her many contributions, Stephanie served as the Chair of NCARB’s Intern Think Tank in 2014 and the Chair of AIA’s Women’s Leadership Summit in 2022. A dedicated leader at local, state, and national levels, she has been recognized with honors including the 2016 AIA Young Architect Award, 2014 AIA California Young Architect Award, 2023 AIA Silicon Valley Firm Award, and 2023 Woman of Influence designation from her local Business Journal.
Kurt Neiswender, AIA, is Principal of Urban Colab Architecture, L3C, a social-enterprise practice based in Flint, Michigan. His studio operates as a lean, distributed model — pairing a small core team with independent contractors and collaborators across the country to deliver community-centered work, an approach that lets a place-based practice punch well above its size.
Kurt is also an Assistant Professor of Practice at Lawrence Technological University, where he mentors emerging architects, and co-founder of the Coffee Sketch Podcast, a Top-10 architecture podcast reaching listeners in 146+ countries. Across practice, teaching, and media, he is interested in how architects build connection, mentorship, and culture when the work is remote.
A 2017 AIA National Young Architect Award recipient, he currently serves as 2026 AIA Michigan Secretary-Elect.
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