The global market for large international design firms has taken a series of hits over the past few years, including fluctuating oil prices, political unrest in many parts of the world and the eruption of global trade wars. While many large design firms hoped that 2020 would provide relief from the disruptions, that was not to be, as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic hit and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia flared up. These disruptions have left major international design firms wondering how to cope with a chaotic market.
The uncertainty in the market can be seen in the results of ENR’s Top 225 International Design Firms survey. The leading 225 companies generated $72.31 billion in design revenue in 2019 from projects outside home countries, up a scant 0.6% from $71.88 billion in 2018. Part of this weak growth can be attributed to the absence of Fluor Corp. from the list, which could not file a survey this year because of U.S. government disclosure restrictions on publicly traded companies. Fluor ranked No. 10 on last year’s Top 225 International Design Firms list with $2.13 billion in international design revenue.