It is no secret that Australia has been grappling with a lack of skilled workers across the construction sector.

Earlier this year, the Master Builders Australia (MBA) forecast that the construction industry would need an additional 130,000 workers to reach the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029. At this point, it’s a tale that has been told a thousand times.

The desperate plea for more skilled workers has largely been spearheaded by large public infrastructure projects and never-ending demand for residential housing.

Yet recently, there has been an influx of investment in a different type of property: data centers.

Organizations are adopting cloud computing en masse while continuing to transform their systems from manual to digital, which is increasing the requirement to generate, store, and compute data. But now, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are driving the need for even more, even faster. 

Infrastructure demands need supply

The AI market in Australia is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 28.55 percent from 2025 to 2030, resulting in a forecast market of AU$20.34 billion (US$13.4bn) by 2030.

But all of these revolutionary technologies won’t exist without the infrastructure of data centers. Hence, demand for the construction of data centers is growing exponentially, with Australia the leading investment location behind the United States, drawing capital investment worth AU$6.7bn (US$4.4bn) last year alone.

Forecasters don’t see this demand declining anytime soon. CBRE has estimated the data center market will nearly double to AU$40bn (US$26.4bn) over the next four years as businesses continue to invest in AI systems.

We currently have nearly 1,400 data storage establishments operating in Australia, and it’s estimated that there is a further 183,000 sqm (1,969,795 sq ft) of data center space currently under construction.

This is seemingly only the beginning: by 2030, the industry growth rate is estimated to sit between 25 and 45 percent, and recently, Amazon announced it will invest AU$20bn (US$13.2bn) to expand its data center infrastructure footprint in Australia by 2029.

But all of these projects need to be built, which will undoubtedly put more pressure on an industry already facing a skills shortage crisis. To complete the construction of these increasingly critical data centers, we need more project managers, electrical and mechanical engineers, procurement managers, contract managers, and architects.

Plugging the skills gap

So how are we going to build data centers, with a construction sector already bogged down by a lack of ‘hands on deck’?

First, we need to upskill existing workers, encourage our youth to consider apprenticeships, and offer visa options to skilled workers. But another hurdle the sector faces is its slow approach to the adoption of technology – an ironic reality given the reliance on the sector to build technology’s infrastructure.

We’re still relying on manual systems to assist with major construction projects, and this desperately needs to change. Technology can reduce the pressure in the construction industry – helping to bridge the skills gap, automating or speeding up processes, and more.

Architects and engineers are already using digital tools for concept design and ideation. But newer tools, like microclimate analysis, embodied carbon analysis, or early design insights, can also be leveraged.

For project managers, technology can help to streamline the planning and construction phase of the build by predicting timelines, providing real-time analysis on the risks and safety hazards that could occur, as well as flagging quality control issues before they become critical.

Even for builders, who undertake the most manual, hands-on roles, technology can reduce the additional burden they face with tedious, administrative aspects of the job.

Once we start to use these digital tools more, they will continue to collect data on each project and provide insights into how best to streamline processes – pointing out ways to build more efficiently in the future.

In fact, in the State of Design & Make Report 2025, 39 percent of digitally mature companies in Australia used internal data to develop products or complete projects faster compared to 28 percent of less digitally mature companies.

While it’s understandable to try and address the skills shortage with skills, digital tools can be used to bridge the talent gap in some way, helping us build the technology-housing infrastructure we need now and beyond.