Annexion Insights • Interior Design and Architecture
Interior Design and Architecture Hiring Across APAC: The Good News for 2026
📅 23 September 2026 • Annexion Partners
Much of the hiring conversation in Interior Design and Architecture focuses on talent shortages and challenges. Yet, five key markets across APAC are reshaping that narrative in 2026, demonstrating easing pressures, tangible expansion, and a profession confidently asserting its identity.
Australia: the shortage has genuinely eased.
Jobs and Skills Australia's 2025 Occupation Shortage List now rates both Architect and Interior Designer as "No Shortage" nationally, with Architects enjoying this status in every state and territory. For Interior Designers, this marks a genuine improvement: New South Wales, for example, reported a shortage as recently as 2024 [1].
A profession moving from shortage to surplus within a year is a compelling signal of positive momentum, rarely seen so clearly in hiring data.
Malaysia: the industry is physically expanding.
ARCHIDEX 2026, the flagship event of Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia and Asia's leading architecture business gathering, will move to a larger venue, expanding its exhibition space by nearly 20% to 37,000 square meters. With organizers targeting 900 exhibitors from 20 countries and 40,000 visitors (up from 36,800 last year) [2], this is an industry not managing decline but outpacing its own capacity for growth.
Philippines: a profession stepping into a stronger identity.
The Philippine Institute of Interior Designers has expanded its Manila Interior Design Summit from three to four days for 2026, bringing in more industry partners and international voices. This expansion marks PIID's 62nd year as a licensed, regulated, and nationally organized discipline [3].
PIID's national president used the occasion to stake out the Philippines' place in the regional design conversation—framing the country as underrepresented, not weak. This is a profession confident enough to claim ground, not one playing catch-up.
Sixty-two years into a profession, and its leadership is choosing this moment to claim a bigger seat at the regional table.
Vietnam: a first for the entire industry.
The Vietnam Interior Design Association and the Vietnam Association of Architects jointly endorsed Trend 26+, the country's inaugural trend publication for its interior design industry. Launched at a seminar in Hanoi with contributions from 45 authors across Vietnam and the wider Asia-Pacific region [4], this collaboration between two leading national bodies is a milestone in the industry's journey toward maturity and self-definition.
Thailand: an industry framing its own growth as a national priority.
The Thailand Interior Designers' Association has positioned the design industry as a matter of national "soft power" in 2026, with nearly 1,000 exhibitors joining Architect'26—an event co-organized by the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage and TTF International Co., Ltd [5]. This is an industry body articulating the confidence of a sector on the rise, not one simply coping with shortages.
What this means for hiring across the region
Five markets, five distinct signals of progress: an official shortage resolved, an event outgrowing its venue, a profession claiming its regional identity, an industry launching its first trend report, and an association reframing growth as a matter of national priority. Collectively, these developments suggest a far healthier outlook for Interior Design and Architecture hiring across APAC than the familiar "talent gap" narrative implies. Whether you are hiring into the sector or building a career within it, these signals point to sustained momentum and new opportunities across the region.
Sources
[1] Jobs and Skills Australia, 2025 Occupation Shortage List, occupation data for Architect (232111) and Interior Designer (232511) as published via ANZSCO Search — anzscosearch.com
[2] Architecture Malaysia (PAM's official magazine), "ARCHIDEX 2026 Reinforces Malaysia's Commitment to Future-Ready Cities and Sustainable Growth" — architecturemalaysia.my
[3] Manila Bulletin, "Manila Interior Design Summit 2026: Shaping the Filipino perspective on design," 16 September 2026 — mb.com.ph
[4] Vietnam News, "Workshop explores Việt Nam's interior architecture trends" — vietnamnews.vn
[5] ThaiPR.NET, "Officially Opened 'Architect'26' ASEAN's Largest Building Technology Exposition and Most Influential Architectural Exhibition"; TIDA official site (tida.or.th) — thaipr.net
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