2026 Lighting Jobs Outlook
Posted 1/14/2026
By: Paul Pompeo
You can call 2025 many things, but “boring” would not be one of them. What will 2026 bring? Once again, we turn to a group of esteemed lighting executives for their takes on what the lighting job market and workplace will look like this year. Participating are lighting professionals from manufacturing, lighting design, and the independent representative world. Our panelists include Logan Gerhard, president, Kirlin Lighting; David Komonosky, LEED AP, executive vice president of Sales, Above All Lighting; Anne Kustner-Haser, CLD, Member IES, IALD, LEED AP, president, AKLD Lighting Design; Paula Martinez-Nobles, Member IES, IALD, NOMA LEED BD C, president, Fisher Marantz Stone; and John Palk, president and CEO, SESCO Lighting, Inc.
Which positions will be in most demand and will any see a reduction in demand?
Logan Gerhard: Engineering, production assembly, and marketing will be areas of growth for us this year. We don’t see any specific departments that would see a reduction in demand if it’s an existing role that’s important to us.
John Palk: Technical opportunities such as lighting controls applications and field service roles are areas for us that will continue to grow. We all serve our clients, and just to define “customer service” as being in high demand is too generic. The only reduction in demand that I can foresee are roles that don’t align with an organization’s core values or purpose. “Speculative” roles and ventures may see a decrease in demand as economic pressures and fluctuations in business flow are both likely in 2026.
Anne Kustner-Haser: Mid-level designers will be the most in demand. These are designers that are very knowledgeable, self-driven, anticipate what is needed, and know the details that will be required for different projects. I don’t see reduction in demand because more people see the need for lighting designers. Lighting has become so technical—it is so easy to mess it up! And more sustainable design and certifications require a lighting designer.
David Komonosky: I anticipate more demand for expertise in digital marketing and social media. When I started my first rep agency, I would proudly present my new outside sales employees with a collapsible luggage hand truck so they could nimbly transport the legions of binders from our line card and fight for shelf space at a specifier’s library. We’re still fighting for space today—but it’s virtual space—and knowing the right cadence and content of communication is crucial to being successful.
Paula Martinez-Nobles: For a design office like ours that works on a range of project types and schedules, designers that have a high level of technical, creative, and communications skills will always be in high demand.
In 2026, do you expect AI adoption to increase or decrease your company’s headcount overall—and in which types of roles?
Kustner-Haser: I see AI assisting and helping [in a way] that may allow us to turn projects around more quickly. Our capacity may be able to increase, but I do not see a decrease in headcount. The tasks I see in the future are help with drafting, creating custom fixture design, and other writing tasks—and I hope in reviewing submittals!
Komonosky: I don’t see headcount decreasing. While AI adoption is increasing exponentially and streamlining many rote tasks like photometric calcs and material takeoffs, AI-generated results are oftentimes glaringly inaccurate. When used for the aesthetic look-and-feel of an idea, results are visually apparent and simply discard unusable output. But when used for something as important as calculating life-safety illumination levels in a path-of-egress, results must be correct. Until we have some type of guardrails to verify output, headcount will not decrease significantly, at least not yet, and we need to maintain a “trust but verify” approach that still requires substantial human time.
Palk: We utilize AI to streamline processes that were once labor intensive. Does that increase or decrease overall headcount? Not at this time. We have chosen a path when we engage in an AI opportunity to allow our teams to use that technology to create efficiency of time. This allows those teams to use their analytical skills to create better outcomes. I see this initially in finance and accounting and leading to engagements with AI and machine learning in customer service.
Martinez-Nobles: As an industry, architecture is just starting to dabble in AI adoption. The responsible use of AI technology to improve efficiency will be a hot topic this year, but I don’t believe that the technology alone can replace the collaborative dialogue and inspiration that happens when design teams come together. I think that AI is one of many tools that may enhance a company’s capacity, but it’s still too early to really know.
Gerhard: AI will not directly influence our headcount in 2026. Our engineering team uses AI to assist in product development and technology integration while marketing and other departments have been using it for research and script development.
When evaluating candidates, how much weight does your company place on a four-year degree compared to proven experience, certifications, AI-based training, or past results?
Palk: A four-year degree is nice to have in certain roles. Today, we have roles that require a certain expertise that is often gained through a degree plus experience. However, in most cases, experience wins. Degrees show potential while experience usually shows a track record of results. While it’s role dependent, a combination of the two has created a high-performing and diverse culture for our organization.
Komonosky: My personal motto is “Learn by doing.” The building blocks of a relevant degree are important but when combined with experiential learning, the scales are easily tipped in favor of those candidates.
Martinez-Nobles: Having graduates with a formal education in architecture, engineering, industrial design, theater, and even English and photography has been essential to the evolution of our firm. Diversity of knowledge and experience enriches a team, encouraging creativity, communication, and critical thinking. Curiosity, initiative, and a certain amount of fearlessness fosters excellence. We look at all of these things when evaluating candidates.
Gerhard: It is department dependent—engineering, for one, requires formal training. In general, candidates’ experiences, technical skills, and a proven ability to implement soft skills often has a greater impact on a teammate’s success than meeting specific academic requirements.
Kustner-Haser: A four-year degree in design/architecture is helpful to understand the built environment, but there are a number of intangibles that a designer needs that cannot be taught. We look for smart, creative, passionate people that have a comprehension of lighting. With this, you can teach designers to fully understand our craft better. Depending on what their proven experience is, real-life practice is priceless.
Komonosky: I combined a degree in architectural engineering with an internship at a prominent MEP firm in New York City [Syska & Hennessy]. Those two things galvanized my passion for our industry early on with laser focus. Another example is the IES Orange County Observership Program, where selected interns rotate through a lighting designer, electrical engineer, lighting rep, lighting manufacturer, and electrical wholesaler. I participated in this program many times as an employer and the experience was extraordinarily positive.
What is your current in-office/remote-work model and do you see that changing in 2026?
Martinez-Nobles: Design is more efficient and creative in person but having some remote flexibility and developing trust in our employees builds dedication, camaraderie, and self-drive. Participation with mock-ups and samples are always in-person—design charettes vary based on the needs of the client.
Gerhard: Most of our employees are in the office except for some sales and marketing team members that are located throughout North America. All other positions are located at our HQ.
Komonosky: Depending on the role, I predict more time will be spent in the field. While remote working certainly has its advantages and will continue to exist at some level, there is no substitute for in-person interaction. My post-pandemic personal interactions seem to have become more purposeful, structured, and efficient than in the past.
Kustner-Haser: We have full-time, part-time, hybrid, and remote employees; I don’t see us changing anytime soon, either.
Palk: In-office is preferred but talent and technology are more scalable today for businesses than ever. I don’t see our position changing in the year ahead.
What types of contract/consultant/fractional employees will be most needed in 2026?
Komonosky: I think roles that are of a finite task, such as assistance with your presence at trade shows or consultant reviews of new products and concepts.
Martinez-Nobles: Though the industry is still slow to recover from COVID-19, it continues to move in waves with periods of high activity followed by stretches of uncertainty. We try to remain agile while holding true to our core values. We believe in riding those waves intact and supplementing our team with collaborators when needed and without comprising design excellence and integrity.
Gerhard: We typically hire full-time employees for open roles. For project-specific work, we will hire consultants, typically for engineering or marketing support, but that is the exception.
Palk: Technology consultants will be most needed in 2026.
Kustner-Haser: We have had, and have, all types of working arrangements with our team. I foresee contract employees will help in non-design positions, such as marketing, accounting, operations, and other administrative roles.
What will be the biggest factors in retaining top lighting and controls talent in 2026—compensation, culture, flexibility, career path, or something else?
Kustner-Haser: The biggest factor is flexibility. Compensation used to be number one, and still is for many people, but the culture is changing. Every team member has different ideals for what “quality of life” means to them. I heard of a designer that asked to have more vacation days to travel over a salary increase for their compensation. As I see it, a happy and satisfied team member will be a more creative and contributing one.
Gerhard: Culture. It drives all other attributable factors to employee retention and fulfillment.
Palk: It’s a combination of all these variables. Culture and organizational sustainability in challenging economic conditions usually wins out.
Komonosky: All these factors related to retention will always be important, but based on my frequent interactions with specifiers and lighting rep groups, flexibility for at least partial work-at-home time will become more important as it carries added leverage for both employer and employee. Second to that, I’ve always offered generous continuing education opportunities for employees and that usually appeals to everyone regardless of what point they are in their career trajectory.
Martinez-Nobles: This is a tough one. Today’s workforce is interested in having a blend of all things: healthy compensation, positive culture, flexibility, clear career-path options, and mentorship. Being inspirational and modeling excitement in your own career as a leader is key to inspiring the next generation of lighting designers.
The Author: Paul Pompeo is president of Pompeo Group , an executive recruitment consultancy in lighting, electrical, and controls.
