The data center construction industry is growing fast, fueled by cloud computing, AI, and internet services. But this growth has created a serious workforce shortage. By 2025, global data center staffing reached 2.3 million employees, yet two-thirds of operators struggled to find skilled workers. Here's what you need to know:
The need for skilled labor is urgent, especially as AI-driven facilities demand advanced infrastructure. This shift requires preparing talent for AI data centers to meet future capacity needs. Without immediate action, the industry risks falling short of its growing demands.
Data Center Workforce Shortage Statistics and Projections 2016-2026
The data center workforce has expanded significantly, growing 60% from 306,000 in 2016 to 501,000 in 2023. This surge reflects the industry's increasing focus on hyperscale operations.
By 2026, cloud providers and internet giants are predicted to outpace enterprise staffing demands for the first time. This trend is particularly noticeable in states like California, which accounts for 17% of U.S. data center employment, and Texas, contributing 10%.
Experts anticipate 2026 will mark a peak in data center construction activity across the United States. While overall U.S. construction shows moderate growth, the demand for data center-related trades is accelerating at a much faster pace.
Electrical contractors and power/communication line workers are expected to grow by 6.6% through 2033, driven largely by the expansion of data center and renewable energy infrastructure. The Birmingham Group estimates that the industry will require approximately 349,000 net new construction workers in 2026 to keep up with soaring building demands. Adding to this pressure, AI-driven facilities are pushing infrastructure needs even further - Generative AI processes consume nearly 10 times the electricity of standard searches, creating a pressing need for extensive build-outs and highly specialized construction teams.
The growing complexity of data center projects is making workforce challenges even harder to tackle. Several specialized roles in this sector are in critically short supply. For example, MEP engineers, who work on intricate power and cooling systems, earn between $95,000 and $140,000 annually, yet hiring for these positions remains a struggle. Similarly, commissioning agents, who play a key role in ensuring systems meet the required standards, earn $85,000 to $125,000. The surge in AI infrastructure has driven power density requirements from the traditional 5–10 MW range to as high as 50–100 MW or more, further increasing demand for these experts.
Project managers with data center experience are also in short supply. Despite earning $120,000 to $180,000 annually, only about 15% of applicants meet the minimum qualifications for these roles. Beyond these specialized positions, sourcing skilled electricians and pipe layers is another persistent challenge, especially as construction expands beyond established hubs like Northern Virginia and Dallas into emerging areas such as Indiana and Louisiana. As of November 2025, the U.S. construction industry faced a shortfall of approximately 439,000 workers. To attract scarce talent, data center roles often pay up to 30% more than standard construction jobs.
"AI is introducing a whole new set of challenges to power systems, and we need people who really understand the engineering and science behind it."
- Karina Hershberg, Associate Principal, PAE Consulting Engineers
These hiring challenges are part of broader shifts in the labor market.
A wave of retirements, often referred to as the "silver tsunami", is draining senior expertise from the industry. This trend is particularly disruptive in mature markets across the U.S. and Western Europe, where experienced professionals are leaving behind a leadership gap.
The rapid growth of AI-driven construction has created what one industry leader calls an "arms race for people, material, equipment". Workers in this field often log 50–60 hours per week, including weekend shifts, which leads to burnout and higher turnover rates. Adding to these challenges, data center projects require highly specialized skills in areas like high-voltage systems, advanced HVAC setups, and maintaining zero-downtime operations. These demands mean that traditional construction workers need significant additional training to transition into data center roles.
"We're really worried about overextending our electricians... they might turn around and go to a different campus and pump out some hours and get some [overtime] on that one."
- Connor Toomey, Senior Project Manager, HITT Contracting
Geographic expansion into less established markets compounds the issue. When new facilities are built in areas without an existing data center industry, developers must either bring in workers from other regions or build a local workforce from scratch. In 2020, half of data center owners and operators reported difficulty finding qualified candidates. Today, that challenge has grown, with 58% of global operators struggling to fill open positions.
These challenges highlight the critical need to address trade-specific labor shortages in the industry.
As data center construction evolves, certain trades are experiencing a surge in demand, driven by the unique requirements of these facilities.
Among the most sought-after trades are electricians and HVAC/R technicians, whose roles have expanded significantly in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024, electrician employment grew by nearly 50% in Tennessee and 46.72% in Arizona. Meanwhile, HVAC/R technician roles skyrocketed by 83.45% in Alaska and 65.43% in Arkansas. These increases highlight the infrastructure needs of AI-driven facilities, which demand far more electrical capacity and advanced cooling systems than traditional data centers.
Ben Burgett, Vice President of Data Centers at Gray, underscores the importance of electricians in these projects:
"It's all about electricians on every project. That's the longest pole of a tent on every project".
Burgett reported that, as of November 2025, he was overseeing over 1 gigawatt of development across seven campuses. On just one of these projects, nearly 3,000 team members were required on-site daily. This illustrates not only the demand for core trades like electricians and HVAC technicians but also the essential support roles that make these projects possible.
Beyond these primary trades, data center construction relies on a diverse workforce, including civil contractors, utility workers, heavy equipment operators, and specialized tradespeople. These workers handle tasks like building roads, substations, and power plants. In total, the sector encompasses around 230 specialized job roles, each requiring specific technical expertise at various construction stages.
The financial rewards for entering these trades are notable. Construction workers on data center projects earn an average salary of $81,800 ($39.33 per hour), which is nearly 32% higher than the $62,000 ($29.80 per hour) average for non-data center construction jobs. This wage premium reflects both the specialized skills required and the fierce competition for talent.
However, workforce planning is complicated by the fact that immigrants make up roughly 30% of the U.S. construction workforce. With construction costs averaging $9.5 million per megawatt, developers are willing to pay top dollar for skilled labor to meet tight deadlines. These higher wages underscore the pressing need for focused training and recruitment strategies - topics we’ll delve into next.
The data center industry is tackling workforce shortages with specialized training programs that bypass the traditional four-year degree path. These programs are designed to quickly transition workers from retail, military, and trade backgrounds into data center technician roles, often within just 6–12 weeks.
For example, in 2024, Texas State Technical College and Per Scholas, in collaboration with TEKsystems, launched accelerated training initiatives. Texas State Technical College offers a noncredit data center technician course that requires no prior technical experience. This program prepares participants for entry-level roles with hourly pay ranging from $17 to $40, tailoring the curriculum to HVAC or electrical needs. Meanwhile, Per Scholas provides a free data center operations program, which includes OSHA training, industry certifications, and hands-on instruction in IT hardware and cooling systems.
John Lullen, Managing Executive of Marketplace Inclusion at TEKsystems, highlights a critical issue:
"There are enough jobs. There are not enough people. Or rather, people don't know what jobs exist".
To bridge this awareness gap, initiatives like the Texas Flywheel Initiative are stepping in. This program collaborates with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to establish talent pipelines in Abilene, Texas, supporting ventures such as the $500 billion Stargate AI program.
Certifications are also playing a key role in workforce development. Cleveland Community College’s Mission Critical Academy prepares students for the Certified Mission Critical Operator (CMCO) exam, with successful candidates earning college credit for select courses. Additionally, BICSI credentials, such as Installer 1 and 2, are becoming industry standards for copper and fiber installation specialists.
Upskilling existing tradespeople is another essential strategy. Jasmine Smiley, Senior Release and Change Manager at Microsoft, emphasizes the untapped potential of traditional trades:
"Folks don't realize that although they might be a plumber by trade and have been doing this for the past 15 years, we also need plumbers in data centers to make them run".
By helping electricians, HVAC technicians, and plumbers see how their expertise applies to data centers - where precision cooling and high-voltage electrical work are critical - these programs open doors to higher-paying opportunities. These training efforts are laying the groundwork for scalable recruitment solutions.
While training programs address long-term workforce needs, recruitment partners play a crucial role in meeting immediate hiring demands for specialized roles. These partners focus on maintaining pipelines of pre-qualified talent for mission-critical positions like project managers, MEP specialists, commissioning engineers, cost estimators, and scheduling professionals.
For instance, in October 2025, QCS Staffing deployed over 800 specialists for a hyperscale data center project in Groningen, Netherlands. This included Senior Electrical Commissioning Engineers tasked with L2-L5 commissioning and integrated system testing for a billion-dollar facility. Their hire-train-deploy model ensures candidates are fully certified and ready to work in specific data center environments.
Recruitment firms such as iRecruit.co simplify the hiring process by leveraging pools of pre-qualified candidates for hard-to-fill roles in construction management and technical disciplines. With construction firms struggling to keep up amid labor shortages, these partnerships enable contractors to scale their workforce quickly without sacrificing quality. Moreover, as the industry increasingly values equivalent experience over formal degrees, many data center roles can now be filled by individuals with technical trade school backgrounds or relevant on-the-job training.
By 2025, global data center staffing is expected to reach nearly 2.3 million full-time employees, growing at a steady 3% annually. However, nearly two-thirds of operators are still grappling with the challenge of finding and retaining skilled candidates. Looking ahead to 2026, it’s clear that the workforce gap won’t resolve itself - it demands deliberate action on multiple levels.
Bridging this gap starts with reducing barriers to entry, accelerating training programs, and collaborating with specialized recruiters. For example, eliminating unnecessary degree requirements and valuing equivalent experience can attract talent from related fields and industries. Recruitment firms like iRecruit.co can connect companies with pre-qualified professionals for critical roles. This forward-thinking approach is essential to address the recruitment trends in data center construction.
The urgency is heightened by the "silver tsunami" of retirements. With 45% of data center professionals boasting 20 or more years of experience, organizations can’t afford to delay succession planning. Building robust internal training programs, formalizing knowledge-sharing processes, and securing partnerships with recruitment experts will be key to scaling operations effectively. Companies that hesitate risk competing for an ever-shrinking talent pool in a landscape where one in 10 data center outages in 2025 is projected to cause significant disruption. These challenges require both immediate solutions and a commitment to long-term workforce strategies.
From a shrinking talent pipeline to an aging workforce, the obstacles ahead call for strategic, sustainable action. Developing targeted training initiatives and recruitment plans will be critical to ensuring the industry’s growth and resilience as we approach 2026.
Data center construction brings together a combination of skilled tradespeople and specialized professionals. Skilled trades like electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and drywall installers are essential for creating the physical structure. On the other hand, specialized professionals - including project managers, facility engineers, and commissioning experts - play a critical role in managing the construction process, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fine-tuning operational performance.
For massive projects, such as hyperscale data centers, the workforce can swell to thousands during peak construction periods. With the rapid expansion of the data center industry, there’s a growing urgency to recruit and train a capable workforce to meet tight deadlines and tackle the technical challenges these projects demand.
The data center construction industry is addressing the skilled labor shortage with a variety of targeted approaches. As demand for data centers and AI infrastructure soars, there's an increased emphasis on equipping workers with the skills needed for specialized roles such as electricians, pipefitters, and project managers. Programs like apprenticeships and technical training initiatives are playing a crucial role in building a steady pipeline of capable professionals.
On top of that, many companies are leveraging specialized recruitment services like iRecruit to simplify hiring and connect with pre-qualified candidates for critical positions, including cost estimation, MEP systems, and project management. These strategies are designed to close workforce gaps and ensure projects stay on track to meet the industry's growing needs.
The shortage of skilled labor in data center construction stems from the explosive demand for these facilities, which has grown faster than the supply of qualified workers. Roles requiring specific expertise - like electricians, mechanical specialists, and pipefitters - are particularly hard to fill, leaving the industry scrambling to meet its needs.
This issue is compounded by a lack of robust training and workforce development programs, alongside an aging workforce in some areas. Even though data center construction jobs tend to offer higher wages than other construction roles, the sheer pace of demand has far outpaced the availability of skilled professionals. This imbalance presents a major hurdle for the industry.
