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Report Highlights: On Thursday, 21 October, Host in Ireland released a Special Edition Talent Report titled “Untapped Potential - The Data Centre Career Opportunity”. Today we are putting a spotlight on the commentary by Hannah Ormondroyd from CBRE.
There is an unprecedented demand for talent within the data centre industry, both globally and locally here in Ireland. Data centre capacity is expanding in historic proportions across every geographic region and data centre operators of all sizes are increasingly concerned about the availability of staff and skill sets required for that growth. The Uptime Institute noted in its first Global Data Center Staffing Forecast 2021-2025 report there will be a net staff growth of more than 300,000 data centre jobs by 2025, with the vast majority required for technical operations.
We are at a critical staffing juncture that requires us as an industry to think out of the box in order to attract and retain talent. Good candidates may not understand enough about the industry to consider it as a career choice. The challenge comes in ensuring these exciting roles and opportunities are not hidden, but rather sought after and well understood.
At CBRE, we provide end-to-end solutions across the lifecycle of data centres. From design builds Data Centre Industry Hiring Trends to providing technology services to our clients, we address a wide range of market segments supporting the industry. As an organisation, we have the advantage of being able to cross train our highly specialised technicians to support other functions as business demands. We look for ways to be more agile around our training, development and career opportunities for our employees.
For the next generation of candidates, there is a change in priorities in what they are looking for from an organisation. Korn Ferry conducted a survey that found the benefits package was the most important priority five years ago. Now, company culture is the reigning criteria. We have seen this play out within our organisation. Graduates and young professionals are all about agility, choice and flexibility, as well as corporate social responsibility and diversity and inclusion. There is a more comprehensive view of the total package of the organisation as opposed to just the salaries or nuts and bolts of the job.
For candidates both early in their careers and those looking to make a change, apprenticeships are also becoming a key component of the talent pipeline. Apprenticeships help businesses build the workforce they need in a timely and cost-effective manner. From mechanical and electrical engineers in strategy and operations roles to control and monitoring functions, technical staff is a priority in our talent search. While there will always be roles for university degrees, demand will continue to increase for those with technical trade school certifications or on-the-job training.
The last two years have shown the essential nature of the data centre industry. Large segments of our economy were able to survive a global pandemic thanks to the critical infrastructure found in data centres. Our challenge now is to translate that awareness into harnessing the untapped potential being offered by a career working with the data that has such a profound impact on our lives. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the industry to meet this challenge together.
To read more DOWNLOAD THE SPECIAL EDITION TALENT REPORT HERE
Data Centre Industry Hiring Trends
Hannah Ormondroyd
VP People GWS Local and Data Centre Solutions CBRE
To watch the Report Launch Webinar replay click here