CIEEM’s Employment and Salary Survey is a periodic opportunity to look at how practitioners are faring in relation to salaries and working conditions. Where possible we have drawn comparisons with the 2018 Employment and Salary Survey report (this current survey was due in 2021 but was postponed to 2022 as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic).

The survey was undertaken at a time when concerns have been raised about working conditions in our profession, particularly in relation to early careers practitioners but with challenges also being experienced more widely at all levels of seniority. Capacity is also an issue with employers in the private sector commentating that they have unprecedented volumes of development-related work and a shortage of suitably qualified staff to deliver it. This, in turn is creating recruitment difficulties in the public and NGO sectors.

It is an opportune time, therefore, to take a look at the impact of these issues on our profession. The climate emergency and biodiversity crisis will demand much of us as, through our work, we help to address these twin challenges and deliver positive benefits for biodiversity and society. We need to make sure that our profession is fit for the future and able to play our part alongside other professions and stakeholders.