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Digital Realty Has Stopped Waiting for Qualified Candidates
data center jobs AI infrastructure Industry Update 2026

Digital Realty Has Stopped Waiting for Qualified Candidates

Digital Realty Has Stopped Waiting for Qualified Candidates

See Editorial Note at Bottom

Intro

The head of global operations learning and development at Digital Realty put the industry's staffing problem about as plainly as it can be put. Speaking to Fierce Network in August, Audrey Escalante said the company's most-needed role — data center engineer, the technician who keeps facilities running — has no pipeline producing it ready-made. "We don't have data center engineers coming out the door," she said.

That is a problem for Digital Realty. It is an opportunity for you.

Because when an operator with more than 300 facilities across six continents concludes that qualified candidates are not going to show up on their own, the response isn't to keep the job posting open longer. It's to widen who counts as a candidate in the first place — and then pay to train them.

The industry has run out of ready-made people

The scale of the gap is not subtle. Uptime Institute's 16th Annual Global Data Center Survey, released in late July 2026, found that more than half of operators now report difficulty finding qualified candidates for open roles, with turnover persisting as staff get pulled away by rival data center companies. Uptime characterized staffing and skills shortages as possibly intensifying.

The construction side is tighter still. North America has more than 66 gigawatts of data center capacity under construction — which, per JLL's midyear 2026 report cited by Fierce, would draw more electricity than all of Germany consumes — while vacancy has held at 1% for three straight years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects electrician employment growing 9% from 2025 to 2035, more than double the average occupation, with roughly 72,200 openings a year over the decade. McKinsey's estimate of what the country actually needs runs higher: an additional 130,000 electricians, 240,000 construction laborers, and 150,000 construction supervisors between 2023 and 2030.

Then there's the demographic math working against everyone. The National Center for Construction Education and Research projects about 41% of the current construction workforce will retire by 2031, and Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist Anirban Basu has noted that nearly one in five electricians is already 55 or older.

Nobody is training their way out of that quickly. Which is why the hiring criteria moved instead.

What "widening the door" actually means at Digital Realty

Digital Realty's approach, as Escalante described it to Fierce, is to lower the barrier at the entry point and close the gap with training afterward. Rather than hold out for candidates who arrive with the full skill set, the company assesses what a hire already knows and builds a program around what's missing.

In practice that creates two distinct entry points:

If you come from a trade. A master electrician or a former HVAC technician brings transferable knowledge, and Escalante said those candidates can sometimes enter at a mid-level engineer role after bridge training. That's the fastest route in, and it's worth noticing that the skills being credited here are mechanical and electrical, not IT.

If you come from nothing related at all. Escalante's own example was a ride-share driver with a high school education — that person can start as an entry-level technician and be trained up. It takes longer, and it takes more supervised practice before the company will put them on shift, but trainees hired as full-time employees are paid throughout onboarding.

The job itself mixes keyboard work with hands-on labor: maintaining and inspecting equipment, working with vendors on repairs and replacements, setting up new customers, troubleshooting on site. Digital Realty also runs a graduate program for architecture engineers and an onboarding track for remote hands — technicians handling physical tasks on customer-owned equipment inside colocation facilities — and Escalante said the company is exploring high school outreach to get in front of people who don't know these jobs exist.

Where the training money actually is

The hyperscalers have concluded the same thing Digital Realty did, and they're spending on it. Per New York Times reporting in July, Meta, Google, and BlackRock have collectively committed more than $265 million to recruit and train electricians, carpenters, and other tradespeople for AI data center construction. The specific programs worth knowing:


Meta LevelUp Fiber Technician Pathway. A free four-week program operated by CBRE and sponsored by Meta, announced in April 2026, teaching fiber-optic cable and network equipment installation. No prior experience required, no tuition or fees, open to applicants nationwide, with first cohorts expected in Ohio and Indiana. Graduates get the opportunity to work at Meta construction sites through its contractor network. Meta's America's Workforce Academy. Separately, Meta committed $115 million to the first year of this multi-year effort, initially enrolling roughly 5,000 people in a month-long course with transportation and housing covered, after which participants move onto job sites with Meta contractors. Google. A $50 million pledge directed at the IBEW and its contractor network, aimed at growing annual apprenticeship intake from 19,500 to 30,000 over three years in markets Google has identified. Google separately hires Data Center Technician Apprentices directly, and Google Cloud runs fiber training through its STAR program in six states. BlackRock. $100 million toward expanding skilled trades training, including pipelines for its Texas data centers. Microsoft Datacenter Academy. Running since 2019 through partnerships with community colleges and technical schools — Estrella Mountain and Glendale in Phoenix, Des Moines Area Community College, Big Bend in Moses Lake, and others — offering certification-aligned training, scholarships, mentorship, simulation labs, and work experience placements. The network has grown past 40 institutions worldwide. AWS. AWS Academy runs a Data Center Technician course through partner institutions, with practice exams, certification discount vouchers, and Skill Builder access; AWS also offers a short fiber splicing certification and runs a paid, 6-month Data Center Engineering Operations Technician internship at its facilities.

What the short-course route does and doesn't get you

This is the part worth being clear-eyed about, because the enthusiasm around four-week programs deserves a counterweight.

Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trades Unions, welcomed the training investment but drew a sharp line between crash courses and established apprenticeships, calling Meta's four-week program "a brilliant public relations move" and arguing it doesn't compare to a four-year apprenticeship. He's making a real point: a month-long credential and a journeyman card are different assets with different ceilings, and the second one is portable in a way the first may not be.

Placement structure matters too. Graduates of Meta's fiber pathway are routed to jobs with contractors in Meta's network — not to direct employment with Meta. That distinction affects benefits, job security, and how far you can climb without changing employers.

On pay, the range is wide and depends heavily on experience, location, and certifications. Data center technicians earn roughly $45,000 to $145,000 a year, while experienced electricians managing multi-site crews in Northern Virginia now command north of $200,000. Workers moving into data center construction have seen paychecks rise 25% to 30%, according to Wall Street Journal reporting cited by Fierce.

One more thing the industry itself admits: a lot of hiring isn't net-new training at all. Iron Mountain's Mark Kidd has called the practice of operators poaching each other's staff unsustainable, since it raises wages without adding a single worker to the industry, and costs eventually pass through to customers. Kidd's deeper diagnosis is that the talent development system hasn't kept pace with the skills now required. If you're already in the industry, that's leverage. If you're trying to get in, it's the reason the door opened.

The bottom line

The conventional advice for breaking into a technical field is to get credentialed first and apply second. Right now, a meaningful slice of this industry has inverted that — assessing aptitude, hiring, and then training on the payroll, because the alternative is leaving critical roles unfilled while 66 gigawatts of capacity comes online. Escalante's framing was that a door which used to be very narrow keeps getting opened wider.

That won't last forever. Doors widen when supply is short and narrow again when it isn't. But for anyone with mechanical aptitude, electrical or HVAC background, military technical experience, or simply a willingness to work shift schedules and learn on site, the gap between where you are and where the industry needs you is the smallest it has been in years.

EDITORIAL NOTE

This post is a summary and synthesis of publicly reported news, with light editorial commentary and analysis from UptimeJobs.io. It is not financial, investment, legal, or career advice, and it should not be relied upon as fact-checked, real-time market data or as a substitute for professional guidance. Readers making investment or career decisions should consult primary sources and qualified professionals.

The commentary, framing, and conclusions above are opinion and analysis, not statements of fact, and reflect UptimeJobs.io's interpretation of third-party reporting at the time of writing. We have not independently verified the figures, quotes, or claims attributed to outside sources, and those sources may themselves later be corrected, updated, or disputed. Program details — including eligibility, cohort locations, availability, pay ranges, and placement terms — change frequently and should be confirmed directly with the sponsoring organization before you apply or make any career decision. Company names, executives, and organizations mentioned are referenced for reporting and commentary purposes only; UptimeJobs.io is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking on behalf of any company, program, or individual named here, and nothing here is a recommendation of any specific employer or training program. Facts, figures, and circumstances described may change after publication, and we are under no obligation to update this post to reflect later developments. Nothing here should be read as a prediction or guarantee of future hiring trends, job placement, earnings, company performance, or industry outcomes.

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