Architects, landscape architects and urban planners traditionally belong to the middle class. However, they are currently on the edge of their resilience. This is the result of a recent study by the Munich ifo Institute. In the December issue of G+L, we discuss the financial situation of planners – and take a look inside the offices’ coffers.
The topic of the G+L December issue is salaries in planning. Cover picture: Laura Celine Heinemann
(Landscape) architects and urban planners as part of the middle class
“If you want to earn a lot of money later on, you should definitely not stay in planning.” This sentence was given to me and my fellow students by our professor of urban planning at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences in my third bachelor’s semester. At the time, the start of my professional life was still so far away that I didn’t really give it much thought. Consoled by the motto: “Oh, it’ll work out somehow.” And of course it does. Architects, landscape architects and urban planners traditionally belong to the middle class based on average earnings – with a corresponding “middle income”. However, we are still generally miles away from the average salaries of lawyers, computer scientists or industrial engineers.
More a vocation than a profession?
More a vocation than a profession – for many decades, this half-sentence was used in planning to justify a comparatively low salary. For employers and employees alike. This is confirmed by many of our interviewees and commentators in this issue. But times have changed. The employer market has evolved into an employee market. When it comes to salary today, there is no getting around the topics of “working hours”, “overtime”, “workload”, “work-life balance” and “employee development”. Employees want more than “just” a good salary. As a result, many office owners today have the feeling that they are applying to potential employees rather than the other way around – fruit baskets and the like send their regards
The results of our online survey
For this issue, we wanted to find out: What is the actual situation regarding salaries in planning? And in times of an acute shortage of skilled workers, what do they mean for the economic situation of employees, but also for employers? To find out, we conducted an online survey together with our sister magazine Baumeister to examine the current financial burden on planners. You can find the results of the survey in this issue. At the same time, we also asked several office owners and office managers to comment on the question of whether and to what extent planners are at the limits of their financial capacity.
You don't talk about money - oh yes you do!
You don’t talk about money – we heard this sentence again and again from various sources in the run-up to this issue and received harsh rejections. Oh yes, dear people. And this issue shows why. Office owners can of course continue to grumble behind closed doors about their employees’ excessive salary expectations, while they in turn resign in frustration due to their bosses’ supposed stinginess. Or, as an idea, we could talk to each other and try to take the other person’s perspective. Maybe we could change something together. Especially at a time when the design of public spaces is becoming increasingly valued (and projects!).