Anarchy in Architecture
In 2005 The Architects’ Journal predicted that the architecture industry would face a severe skills shortage by 2020 and now that we are in 2018 it seems that this may be coming to fruition. A report from the training organisation City & Guild stated that architecture would find itself in 11th place in a league table of skills shortages, leaving the profession in a worst position than plumbing or other construction trades who were also feeling the impact. Although this article was written almost 13 years ago, it appears that their claims were extremely procataleptic. Yet it appears in 2018 that situation could have become even more worrying. Nobody could have predicted huge events like Brexit or the astronomical increase in tuition fees, two of the leading issues in this particular crisis.
Brexit was resoundingly opposed by the majority of the architecture industry, with 282 architects signing an open letter to David Davis against the decision. It is feared that leaving the EU could lead to barriers on European trade and labour which would continually exacerbate the issues currently faced by the construction industry. Problems such as the potential loss of freedom of movement or loss of funding and research which was enabled by the EU are also just some of the concerns for those within the architecture industry. However, previous RIBA President Jane Duncan has stated that as long as the government commit to the devolution of power to strengthen the Northern regions of the UK and address pressing issues such as resolving the housing crisis that there is still potential for strong economic growth within the architecture industry in the future. And so whilst Brexit is a buzz word everyone likes to use to encompass seemingly all the problems we currently face in the UK, there are other factors impacting the skills shortage in the architecture industry including educating future architects. From 2012 onwards the price of a university education began to rise significantly, trebling in some cases. This led to problems for students across the board but particularly for those interested in architecture with the issue of the combination of long university courses coupled with huge debts. With staggering tuition fees that seem set to rise even higher in the future many have argued that a vital industry such as architecture should be eliminated from the list of courses that have to pay to obtain their degree. An aspiring architect not only has to contend with the tuition fees but expenses such as field trips, software and the potential problem of unpaid internships and placements. It appears we are not painting the most optimistic picture for the future of architecture, but with these issues comes the opportunity to change and to hopefully improve. There is time to act and solutions such as offering shorter courses or allowing students to pursue paid work alongside their studies which has been put forward by Alex Wright from the UK Architectural Education Review Group may mean we could see exciting new ways of studying in the future. And what about Brexit? Well only time will tell if the advice put forward by the RIBA, RICS, CIOB and RTPI coalition will be heeded by the government and whether the skills shortage we currently face can be reversed and rebooted back into a prosperous and stable industry.
Written by Lisa Clifton
Lisa is a Director at Clifton Gray Property Recruitment Specialists. Specialising in architecture she has spent the last 15 years working in the recruitment industry. Follow Lisa on LinkedIn or email lisa@cliftongray.co.uk to discuss current Liverpool and Manchester architecture jobs.