Datalect
The floor space of data centers has almost doubled in Europe since 2015
If someone had asked Billy Keeper five years ago what a data center was, he would admit, “I would have no idea.” »
The 24-year-old joined specialist electrical company Datalec Precision Installations as a worker straight out of school.
He is now an electrical supervisor for the UK-based company, overseeing teams of up to 40 people carrying out electrical and cabling installations in data centres.
This means “managing the work, from a health and safety perspective, making sure everything goes well and looking after customers”.
And these customers occupy a central place in today's technology landscape. Data centers are gigantic warehouse-like buildings from which large technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook provide their cloud services.
Other organizations, large and small, manage their own dedicated facilities or rely on “colocation” data centers to house their IT equipment.
Demand for data center space has been driven in recent years by the rise of artificial intelligence, which requires ever more high-end computers and ever more electricity to power them.
Total data center space in Europe was just over six million square feet (575,418 m²) in 2015, according to real estate company Savills, but it will reach more than 10 million square feet this year. In London alone, data center “demand” in 2025 will be almost triple that of 2019, predicts property services firm CBRE.
But as demand increases, says Dame Dawn Childs, chief executive of UK operator Pure Data Centers Group, “it is difficult to meet that demand”.
Simply finding enough land or power for new data centers is a problem. Labour's election platform promised to review planning to encourage the construction of infrastructure, including data centers and power grids on which they depend.
But the industry is also struggling to find the people needed to build them.
“There are simply not enough skilled construction workers to go around,” says Dame Dawn.
For companies like Datalec, it’s not just about recruiting staff from more traditional construction sectors.
Data center operators – whether they are colocation specialists or large technology groups – have very specific needs. “It’s very, very fast. It’s extremely sophisticated technology,” says Matt Perrier-Flint, Datalec Operations Director (UK & Ireland).
“I’ve done commercial premises, I’ve worked in universities,” he explains. But the data center market is particularly regulated, he says, and everything is done “in a calculated and structured way.”
Pure Data Center Group
Meeting demand for data centers 'a challenge', says Dame Dawn
Commissioning a single piece of equipment, such as one of the chillers that keep temperatures stable in a data center, will involve multiple tests and “witnesses,” says Perrier-Flint, before a full final test of the building , with failover scenarios.
Operators will have strict deadlines to complete the construction or upgrade of a data center. At the same time, they will not want to disrupt key economic periods: e-commerce operators generally freeze all work in the run-up to Christmas for example.
This can mean long days for Datalec teams, or even night shifts.
While the demands are high, the rewards are also high. Experienced electrical installers can earn six-figure salaries.
Nonetheless, companies like Datalec face a constant battle to ensure they have sufficiently qualified staff.
Datalect
Experienced electrical installers can earn six-figure salaries working in data centers
The Construction Industry Training Board predicts that the UK will need to recruit an additional 50,300 workers per year over the next five years. Many are concerned about the aging workforce in the construction industry.
Dame Dawn said: “I think like every other technical industry we are struggling to keep the pipes supplied. »
One reason for this deficit is the emphasis on university education over traditional technical or apprenticeship pathways in recent decades.
Mr Perrier-Flint says that when he was younger the consensus was “you can never go wrong in a trade, you can never go wrong in construction”.
But there are now more choices to tempt young people, he suggests, including software development or other technology careers. Or be an influencer on the very platforms managed from data centers.
Mark Yeeles, vice president of Secure Power UK and Ireland at energy and automation company Schneider Electric, started as an apprentice in the 1990s.
Given that the industry often looks for people with 15 years of experience, he says, “the time was right to start investing in apprentices 10 years ago.”
However, Schneider Electric is changing its graduate/apprentice ratio. “We have doubled the number of apprentices,” says Mr Yeeles.
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The whole sector needs to rethink how it recruits young people, he adds. “My team needs to reflect the communities we work in,” he says, particularly in terms of gender, background and experience.
And it must take into account the career paths it offers and recognize the need for young people to have a “mission” or a “goal”. Schneider Electric, for example, launched a sustainability learning program.
Dame Dawn agrees on the need to increase diversity and recognize recruits' need for mission.
“In terms of purpose, we serve the entire population,” she says. “And if we could be part of the solution to reach net zero, that would serve an important purpose because it would allow humanity to move forward.”
But perhaps the first challenge is simply explaining to potential recruits why data centers and the cloud are central to so many facets of modern life.
As Billy Keeper says, “You're trying to explain to someone what the cloud is and what we offer. And they look at the sky.
