Are you working or not ?

[Carlos Principe]

No – Just volunteering my skills and gaining experience as much as I can since I graduated (MLA) back in May of 2009. By June of 2010, I plan to wait tables and/or serve coffee. Savings are gone!…starting from zero at my late 30s.

[Phil Moorehead]

No.

[Claudia Chalfa]

If the general public were educated more about what we do and how much we can improve a design, we would be more in demand.

I’ve said it before…ASLA needs to market us. And we need to start critiquing all of this shoddy work – even that which isn’t designed by us. (Maybe especially that work!)

I don’t think you are being naive with a statement like that. Maybe if enough of us push for it, it will happen.

[Alexandru Gheorghe]

it’s hard to become unexpendable in a company were emplyers or coleagues have the impresion that they can do the same thing.
I’m from Romania, were landscape architecture is at the begining, and were if I want to become unexpendable I have to know a very wide range of fields and a biigg package of information. So with my studies and experience in designing, landscape architecture, horticutulture, raising plants, birds, object design and tehnicat projects, plus cad, max and other programs, MABE they consider me unexpendable in a company were probably I work like a slave for 3 people and get payd for half. 🙂

I guess you know Maslow pyramid of needs, I guess at this moment landscape architecture is after to many fields.

Is there a solution? can’t change the society, and unfortunately everything ends with one word…money.

[Anh Pham]

Yes-CONTRACT basis only

[Ben Yahr]

Yes.

Seems that things are moving quicker than usual- unfortunately often in a negative manner. Projects and leads evaporate overnight. But folks are optimistic, and the consensus here seems to be that things are improving.

[Rico Flor]

Yeppers. Seems to be cruising along the nadir point, if not a few millimeters up. Still ripe for a wipe-out. Hoping no big waves come.

Seems to me current work magnets are Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, China……

[nca]

John-

Who are you directing your comments at?

Again, I think it’s a shame that LA’s are in the situation where they are the ‘fat’ or overburden in the firm. I dont believe we should victimize ourselves though as a profession. We should be better advocates for our selves and work. If we’re that dumb and stupid that a civil cant understand why we’re doing what we’re doing on a given project then maybe it was a bad idea anyway and all we’re doing is pretty-fying and we can only blame ourselves for being marginalized.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

There are plenty of landscape architects out there “taking the work”. They are taking it because they are out competing their competition. They ARE better than the competition. The other side of that coin is that when a landscape architect or LA firm it is not because the public is unaware, or ASLA let them down.It is because someone else out competed them.

A problem that so many of us have is that we want our title of “landscape architect” to out compete the other professions and that simply is not going to happen no matter what your title is. If all of the rhetoric, and this is not directed at Nick, that people make about being better suited to do this or that was universal to each individual and firm it would make sense.

I just can’t imagine that so many of you can honestly believe that ALL landscape architects are suited for this and for that or that ALL CEs or ALL architects or less suited than ALL LAs.

I’d agree that a Landscape Architect should drive a project if (s)he is more suited for that project than the next professional, What I don’t agree with is applying the best attributes of the more successful LAs to the rest of us simply because we share the same license or a similar education.

Finally, if you are not getting the work, you have to accept that someone else is out competing you for it. All you have to do is either increase your capability to beat them or seek the work that you can beat the competition at.

[landplanner]

Let’s keep adding to this discussion thread. I will close it out in one more week and provide an overview/summary and generate a new discussion thread based on the conclusions, personal and professional observations contributors have made here.

[Jim Morgan, RLA]

NO!!

[Shawn W. Cooper]

Currently YES, but being transferred into the city’s parks maintenance division in two weeks. Been 15 years as a Park Planner/Landscape Architect here and another 9 years for another municipality as Park Planner and LA. Last year I was transferred from the Parks Administration dept. to the Engineering Division due to lack of parks projects and now being transferred back to a parks maintenance position because of a lack of projects city-wide.

[Jay Smith]

I liken the great recession to a grand game of musical chairs. If you were caught off one of the chairs when the music stopped, you’re basically screwed. I hope all who kept their jobs realize how lucky they are.

[landplanner]

Final week of your status, situation and outlook, please offer it.

[CML]

Exactly. I thought about that analogy before you posted it. Those that still have jobs are VERY LUCKY! Those that changed jobs recently did not have enough seniority were the first to get screwed. The LA’s that have been laid off have been kicked in the ass and thrown out the door like garbage.

The way I see it (for those of us unemployed) we have four choices.

1. Get extremely lucky and find another job through networking. Not likely.

2. Wait this thing out and hope the recession ends in a year or two. Assuming you can afford it and things ACTUALLY recover in a reasonable time frame.

3. Gamble big time and go back to school and way into debt. The idea being that a related degree will give you an advantage a couple of years down the road once you hit the job market again.

4. Try to go into business on your own as a consultant. Seems like a good idea, but not so easy if you are early in your career.

[Author]

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