Data center owners and operators have long been concerned about a lack of qualified, available staff. The number, size and job needs of facilities have grown very rapidly — faster than colleges, recruitment practices and salaries have adapted.

For at least a decade, more than 100 Uptime Institute Network community member companies have said that recruiting staff is difficult.

The result is a shortage of skilled candidates that is nearing a crisis. Over 60% of respondents to our 2019 Data Center Survey are having significant trouble finding or retaining staff. Uptime Institute found evidence of all these concerns in interviews with data center owners and operators. Two-thirds of respondents who said they were adequately staffed, recently experienced cutbacks or were expecting cutbacks. The size of this group suggests that some geographies or verticals may be feeling the impact of the skills shortage more directly and that some enterprises have developed strategies to help them effectively meet their staffing needs.