At least double last year. Hired back an old employee, hired a new one, and already made an offer to yet another, just to keep up with demand.
I see a steady amount of work available but for the last several years it has been the competition which is driving our economics down the crapper. Folks are commonly charging half what should be charged; competitors are cutting corners as if it is the last dollars they will ever earn; I see more 'calculated' (IE I took the info from some other guys survey and hope he was not a louse because I am too damn lazy or cheap to verify the data myself) PLSS positions and other controlling monument ties than ever before; construction costs are ridiculously cheap to the point that doing construction staking is now a liability to get involved at those cost levels; many competitors are working from their garage but instead of bankrolling the additional funds from lower overhead, they are slicing their prices which is great for their clients and lousy for them and the industry. Yes, there is lots of work but instead of raising rates (twice the pay for half the work) far too many are going the opposite way (half the pay for twice the work). Fortunately we have many loyal customers and a long standing reputation in the area which allows us to keep our doors open.
So yes, more work, but less pay. Still trying to find that niche.
We've been seeing more and more jobs require E&O insurance, which people seemed to get lax on over the last few years. A lot of people, laid off from their jobs at bigger corps, opened one-man shops, and failed to get E&O insurance. That's been biting more and more contractors, so they seem to have gotten stricter, as they finally start to realize that's important.
So, coupled with more demand for work, we've actually been able to raise our rates back more inline with what they were in 2007 (finally!), and still get jobs.
