Erz

There is such a shortage of landscape architects in the UK, that there are empty seats across the country in practices small and large. At erz we have been advertising for YEARS and we just don't get applications from chartered landscape architects. This is because of:

• BREXIT making our European colleagues feel unwelcome
• the cost of studying for a long degree putting UK students off because they don't have the means
• the dominance of overseas students learning to be landscape architects - who then go home because they can't get a visa, or feel unwelcome, or both
• and the pressure to engage our young people in "STEM" subjects even though the creative industries are an economic powerhouse in the UK and always have been

Now the latest announcement from the Government is that the starting salary for a skilled person coming into the UK to get a visa will be raised from £26500 to £38500. How unbelievably out of touch that is with the sort of salaries most people earn, especially outside London?

To make it even worse, the removal of landscape architecture from their shortage skills list (a hard-won status achieved by lobbying by the Landscape Institute), will ensure we cannot afford to employ even new graduates from abroad.

This is an existential crisis for the profession of landscape architecture at time when we are most needed – we hold the keys to design for climate change management and mitigation of the biodiversity crisis. We are at the heart of positive changes to public health and to education. We are fundamental to survival. We take policy and turn it into places that enhance our daily lives, our health, our communities and the planet. We do it for modest salaries and are superb value for money.

What makes me absolutely most angry of all – and it’s a deep nasty feeling – is when our highly valued Chinese graduate; who everyone in our office loves and respects; who brings talent, creativity, work ethic, and kindness to our team; comes to talk to us at the end of the day today because she is panicking about her job, her livelihood and her future.

Just shameful.