There will be an estimated 300,000 unfilled jobs throughout the digital infrastructure industry in 2025, according to an Uptime Institute survey that informed the SOTI. I think the situation is worse. As the iMasons report notes, our industry needs general contractors and construction workers to build data centers and electricians, technicians, and mechanical engineers to wire them up and operate them. The problem is that our industry’s need is just one part of a booming global infrastructure and manufacturing ecosystem where the demand for skilled tradespeople is soaring. For example, an estimated 10.3 million jobs will be created to make the energy transition away from fossil fuels, according to the World Economic Forum, and an estimated 345,000 construction workers are needed in the US to build roads, bridges, pipelines, and powerlines as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
In addition, an estimated 30 percent of the skilled trades workforce is looking at retirement within the next decade. That means we have a shrinking talent pool on top of an expanded need. What’s more, too few people are racing to fill the employment gap. In a recent McKinsey & Company survey of 1,000 high school students, 70 percent reported they would not consider going into the skilled trades due to an underlying stigma associated with these professions, and 80 percent of respondents said their parents would only support a four-year college. To tighten the screw one more turn, we’re competing for this shrinking pool of talent from a marketing deficit. Mainstream media has done a remarkable job in the past six months reporting on the energy demands of data centers without connecting the dots to the digital services that data centers enable. Nor is the media talking about the stable, well-compensated career opportunities in the digital infrastructure industry that support the digital economy. The burden is on us to change the narrative and attract a new generation of workers into our industry.
