Evolving job trends in the Data Centre industry

Technological advancements, increasing access to the internet and rise of home working have blown up the Data Centre market. Be it for an individual, business, city or country – data centres are vital for the continuity of day-to-day operations. As such, demand for data centres is on a meteoric rise. In every geographic region, data centre capacity is being dramatically expanded, and there is a huge global requirement for data centre staff to design, build and operate facilities. In light of this exponential growth, we look at the areas of data centre jobs that are evolving in the industry.  

Cloud Professionals

There has been a dramatic shift in the way the world uses and consumes data, largely contributable to the pandemic and move of critical businesses online. As a result, cloud computing is becoming a prerequisite for efficient business data storage - its flexibility and accessibility being a highly desirable quality for operations. This embrace of cloud software also means that the volume of data being generated and processed each day is growing exponentially. Because of this, cloud professionals and IT engineers with specialised cloud skills are growing in demand. In fact, around 29% of all data centre jobs being advertised include cloud professionals, and the most sought after skillset for a data centre job is the ability to manage both cloud and traditional IT infrastructure. A report by Uptime Institute even predicts that the highest demand talent in the data centre industry in years to come is expected to be in exclusive cloud and collocation data centres by a significant margin. 

Design and Construction Specialists

Data centre infrastructure is one of the hottest real estate investment sectors on the market. Year on year, volume of investment continues to double, and more data centre facility builds are being put into action. This pattern of extraordinary growth is expected to continue, with hyperscale operators in cloud computing and social media expected to be the driving force. The market is set to grow by a further 5.9% by 2027, and to get new data centre facilities up and running, there is accelerated demand on data centre construction and design specialists. Roles such as Mechanical Design Engineer, Electrical Design Engineer, Construction Manager and HSE Manager are dominating the Data Centre recruitment market. Whether it is the upgrade of facilities or build of new data centre sites, the opportunities for contractors in these Design and Construction areas are abound.

Mechanical and Electrical Engineers

Data centres underpin the everyday running of organisations across the world, storing mission-critical data and applications. If a fault occurs, the financial and reputational costs to a business can be astronomical. Therefore, the consistent upkeep and maintenance of data centre facilities is essential to the industry. Constant work is required to keep operations smooth, and an area of data centre jobs that is saturating the market is that of facility engineers and technicians. In fact, it is the second most recruited for area in data centres currently, and Uptime Institute predicts that Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in operations roles will be needed in even greater numbers in the years to come. Mechanical and Electrical Engineers play a crucial role in the maintenance of critical data centre systems and hardware, including cooling systems, electrical equipment and building management systems.

Looking for a Data Centre job?

There is no doubt about it - data centres are a hot market to be in right now. With a boom in remote working and e-commerce, rapid technological advancements and more people using the Internet than ever before, record numbers of data centres are being used and built. At Quanta, we have our finger on the pulse of this exploding market, and our skilled data centre recruitment team are experts at placing our candidates in dream data centre jobs. Are you looking for your next data centre job opportunity? Check out our live roles here or get in contact with the team today.