You’ve probably heard how the growth of the data center business means rising demand for energy and real estate. Another area requiring exponential growth? Human capital. Nearlyoperators are having trouble finding qualified candidates for open jobs, while more than half find it difficult to retain people.
Solving the labor shortage will require some heavy lifting. Besides raising our profile and pushing for more seats at educational institutions, the data center industry must get creative around recruiting and retaining talent. Here’s how to ensure we have the people we need, today and tomorrow. That’s left a major gap. Data centers need people for many different roles, from finance to marketing. But mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as electricians—the folks who build the infrastructure—are in especially short supply.doesn’t necessarily help when everything is about steel and electronic equipment. In my experience, each new data facility requires about 25 engineers, pushing labor demand across the industry to thousands of positions each quarter.
Then there’s offshore recruiting. We’ve been impressed with the data center talent in Latin America, where some of our facilities are located. Because many people from these regions would like to work in the U.S. for a year, temporary visas could be part of the solution to the labor shortage.Once you’ve landed the right talent, the real challenge begins: getting people to stay. After all, in this market, there are plenty of chances to jump ship.
Finally, following through on purpose matters, too. That means walking the walk on sustainability and innovation—and uniting everyone around the common goal of building aWhen it comes to nurturing next-gen talent, it’s well past time for the data center industry to raise its public profile.