Along with the SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators 2025 list, we polled a selection of leading firms on current Pro AV industry trends.
Is hiring and retaining talent still a challenge for the Pro AV industry?
Deb Zupancic, President, PTG
Hiring and retaining top talent continues to be a significant challenge across the Pro AV industry, but at PTG, we’ve leaned into this reality with a people-first mindset and a deliberate, long-term strategy. As a result, 2025 has been one of our strongest years yet for both hiring and retention. Our turnover remains below industry averages, and we’ve successfully expanded several key teams to support our continued growth. Training and development are key components of our retention strategy. We’ve launched targeted initiatives across project management, technical services, and leadership development to ensure our teams have the skills and support they need to succeed. While the talent landscape remains competitive, PTG’s people-first approach, combined with strategic training investments, cultural alignment, and flexible workplace policies, has allowed us to build and retain a team that is energized, committed, and ready to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving industry.
Mike Cavanagh, President, Key Code Media
Absolutely, it remains one of the industry’s biggest strategic challenges. The demand for network-literate, cross-platform engineers has never been higher, while the talent pipeline has not kept pace. We have responded by doubling down on training and establishing apprenticeship programs that give new entrants a clear career path within the industry. For us, retention comes from alignment. People stay when they feel part of a company that is evolving with technology and genuinely committed to supporting clients for the long term.
Matt Thorne, EVP, ECC
Overall, hiring and retaining talent remains a challenge for the Pro AV industry, but it seems to ebb and flow. We’re starting to see a shift in career development to where students are transitioning from a four-year university to trade schools. Local community colleges are reporting much higher enrollment rates compared to the past 2-5 years, as the younger generation is looking to enter the workforce quicker while minimizing student loan debt. Also, many integrators are implementing apprenticeship programs and recruiting out of the high school level to create a clearer pathway into our industry.
Kris Begnaud, VP Sales, Data Projections
Yes, it continues to be a challenge, although we try to provide clear career path opportunities while helping to guide certification paths and training. DPI leverages our PSNI affiliation to support our customers globally utilizing labor and resources in locations where we don’t have offices and local personnel.
Musfik Dogancay, Executive Director, JKL Technologies
Hiring and retaining the right talent continues to be the most significant challenge in our industry. Due to the strong and continuous growth we are experiencing, demand is outstripping supply. The attempt to feed that growth with existing resources is reducing the opportunities to further train the current talent pool and stretches them past healthy levels, both of which exasperates the retention problem. There are some organizations that are taking the steps to invest in training from ground up, but this is rare as the ROI is long term for most organizations to take on this challenge.
Rick Stuart, VP of Technology and Innovation, Vision Technologies
In any technology-based industry, this can be the biggest challenge. The field is rapidly evolving due to innovations like cloud AV, AV over IP, and AI, making traditional skills quickly obsolete and demanding continuous learning. Strong industry growth further compounds the issue by limiting the available talent pool. It is more important than ever to have a strong training methodology and competitive salaries and benefits. Having a plan to recruit young people who are beginning to take a second look at trades as an alternative to college is equally important. We must be open to hiring those who may lack the required skillset initially but who possess the right attitude and aptitude, allowing for long-term engagement and retention through internal training and advancement.
Jeremy Elsesser, President and CEO, Level 3 Audiovisual
Absolutely. The talent pool is tight, especially for technical roles. We’re investing in our team, building culture, and creating growth paths. We believe retention starts with solid leadership. People stay where they’re valued and challenged.
Keith Neubert, CEO, WPS
The talent landscape is constantly evolving. Long-term stability and journeymen training pathways are less important today to younger talent than rapid advancement and commensurate pay increases, which introduces some level of volatility in staffing. Hiring to mission and clearly defining pathways to advancement result in greater consistency and lower turnover, but finding highly motivated career-minded individuals interested in building a future with an organization continues to be a struggle.
Travis Askew, COO, Solutionz
Locating, hiring, and retaining talent will always be a challenge as long as some companies overpay for mediocrity and lower their standards to fill seats. We recruit the best and brightest and pay them what they are worth because excellence deserves it. This industry does not have a talent shortage; it has a standards problem. At Solutionz, we build a culture where skill, accountability, and pride still mean something.
