Early Career Planners in a Neo-liberal Age: Experience of Working in the South East of England

Since the 1970s, neo-liberal government policy has changed the context in which planners work, and resulted in a growth in the number of planners working in the private sector and changes in the roles of planners working in the public sector. This article reports on research investigating the impact of these changes on recent planning graduates working in the South East of England. The research findings highlight differences and similarities in the experience of public and private sector planners in terms of their job satisfaction, perceptions of the role of planners, ethics, career trajectories and membership of the profession.