New capacity, new campuses, new power demand. The data center industry is expanding on almost every front at once. The organizations that build their workforce strategy alongside that growth, rather than after it, are the ones that keep projects on schedule.
Data center construction and investment are moving at a pace that would have been unusual just a few years ago. North American data center inventory grew 36% in 2025, and vacancy across primary markets fell to a record-low 1.4%, according to CBRE. At the same time, JLL tracked roughly 35 gigawatts of capacity under construction across the region as of year-end 2025, with the largest hyperscale operators collectively planning an estimated $710 billion in 2026 capital expenditure. The U.S. Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory project that data centers, which consumed about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, could account for 6.7% to 12% by 2028, a wide range that reflects real uncertainty, but one that points in a single direction.
None of that growth happens without people.
Every new campus, every capacity expansion, and every power upgrade eventually turns into a staffing requirement, for the trades that build the facility, the technicians who commission it, and the operations and maintenance teams that keep it running for the next decade. The organizations planning that growth are generally very good at forecasting power, land, and equipment. Workforce planning doesn't always get the same discipline, and it's often the constraint that shows up last and causes the most disruption.
Data center growth isn't a single event. It's layered. A hyperscale campus moves through site development, shell-and-core construction, electrical and mechanical fit-out, commissioning, and then years of operations and maintenance. Each phase draws on a different mix of skills, and the current construction pace is putting pressure on several of them simultaneously.
The most visible pressure is in the skilled trades. ABC's 2026 workforce estimate points directly at this dynamic, noting that demand for electricians capable of precision wiring has surged due to the rapid increase in data center construction. That's consistent with what the broader numbers suggest: 35 gigawatts of North American capacity under construction, per JLL, doesn't get built without a large, sustained pipeline of electricians, mechanical contractors, low-voltage technicians, and general skilled trades.
But the construction phase is only the first wave. As facilities move toward commissioning and go-live, demand shifts toward roles suited to mission-critical environments, critical facilities technicians, controls and commissioning specialists, and network and infrastructure staff who validate that a facility performs the way it was designed to. Once a site is live, the workforce need shifts again, toward the operations, maintenance, and support functions that keep it running.
The practical implication for workforce planners: a single expansion project can generate three or four distinct waves of labor demand over its life cycle, each requiring different sourcing channels, screening criteria, and lead times. Treating data center staffing as one undifferentiated hiring problem tends to underserve at least one of those phases.
Site selection, power interconnection, and construction scheduling are typically planned years in advance. JLL reports that grid interconnection alone now averages more than four years in many markets, a timeline that gets built into project planning from day one.
Workforce planning rarely gets the same lead time. In many organizations, hiring plans are finalized closer to groundbreaking or, in some cases, only once a facility is nearing completion. That's a mismatch. The same labor market that's expected to deliver 349,000 net new construction workers in 2026, per ABC, is also the labor market every other expanding organization is drawing from, including other data center operators, semiconductor and manufacturing megaprojects, and general commercial construction.
Electricians alone are projected to see 9% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with roughly 72,700 openings projected per year nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a tight, competitive pool, one that a project team without a workforce plan in motion months, or years, ahead of construction will be sourcing from at the same time as everyone else with a similar timeline.
Building workforce planning into the same milestone structure as the project plan, reviewed at site selection, at permitting, at groundbreaking, and again ahead of commissioning, gives an organization the lead time to source talent proactively instead of competing for it under time pressure.
Workforce conversations about data centers tend to focus heavily on construction, in part because that phase is the most visible. But the roles required to operate a facility over its operational life are just as important to plan for, and they don't come from the same labor pool as the construction trades.
Once a facility is delivered, the workforce need shifts toward roles such as critical facilities technicians (responsible for electrical distribution, UPS systems, generators, and cooling infrastructure), network and infrastructure engineers, and facilities management and supervisory staff, the functions Anistar Technologies specifically staffs for in mission-critical environments. These roles typically require experience in regulated or uptime-critical settings, comfort with badge-controlled and compliance-heavy environments, and, in many cases, a different vetting process than a construction hire.
With vacancy across primary North American markets sitting at a record-low 1.4%, per CBRE, capacity is being absorbed quickly after delivery, which means the operations workforce for a facility needs to be in place at or near commissioning, not sourced reactively after a site goes live.
It's worth being precise here: available data does not support a claim that any single operations role, network engineers, NOC technicians, critical facilities technicians, is facing a quantified, verified shortage. What the data does support is that these roles sit downstream of a fast-moving construction and delivery pipeline, and that a workforce plan built only around construction hiring will reach commissioning without a plan for what comes next.
Most organizations can answer this question one project at a time. Fewer can answer it at the portfolio level, across every site in the expansion pipeline. A practical readiness review works through the following questions:
An organization that can answer all nine with confidence, across its full pipeline rather than just its next project, has a workforce strategy that's keeping pace with its growth plans. Gaps in any of these areas are early warning signs worth addressing before hiring demand peaks.
Workforce readiness isn't a single initiative. It's a set of practices that, done consistently, keep staffing from becoming the constraint on an expansion timeline.
Map workforce needs to the project timeline, not just the org chart. Build a labor forecast tied to project milestones (permitting, groundbreaking, energization, commissioning, stabilization) so hiring activity can start well ahead of the phase it supports, rather than in response to it.
Treat skilled trades and technical operations roles as separate pipelines. Construction-phase hiring and post-commissioning operations hiring draw from different labor markets and require different lead times. Planning for them separately reduces the risk of one phase being staffed at the expense of the other.
Extend sourcing beyond the immediate market when needed. In tight regional labor markets, that can mean relocation support, regional or national sourcing, or partnerships with organizations that maintain a broader talent network.
Use a flexible mix of workforce models. Direct hire, contract, and project-based staffing each serve a different purpose, direct hire for long-term operations roles, contract and project-based support for construction peaks and commissioning surges. Matching the model to the need reduces both overstaffing and last-minute scrambling.
Confirm contractor and vendor staffing plans, not just contracts. A signed contract with a general contractor or MEP vendor doesn't guarantee they can staff their scope on your timeline. Building a check-in on their workforce plan into project governance closes a common blind spot.
Review workforce readiness on a recurring cadence. A quarterly or milestone-based review of the framework above, across the full project pipeline, catches gaps while there's still time to act on them.
None of these steps require predicting the future precisely. They require treating workforce planning as a standing part of expansion planning rather than a task that starts once labor needs become immediate.
Six questions that help determine whether your current labor strategy aligns with upcoming expansion.
Practical steps to confirm before construction, commissioning, or operational hiring demand increases.
Data center growth doesn't wait for a workforce plan to catch up, but it doesn't have to outrun one, either. Anistar Technologies works with data center owners, operators, and construction partners to staff the roles that support mission-critical facilities, from skilled trades and critical facilities technicians to network and infrastructure staff and facilities management. Explore Anistar's infrastructure and data center staffing, or connect with our team to talk through your expansion timeline.
Anistar Technologies works with data center owners, operators, and construction partners to staff mission-critical roles, from skilled trades and critical facilities technicians to network, infrastructure, and facilities management staff.
Explore Infrastructure StaffingTalk to a SpecialistWorkforce planning works best when it starts alongside site selection and power planning, not once construction is underway. Because critical trades and technical roles can have long sourcing and credentialing lead times, building a labor forecast into the earliest project milestones gives an organization the most flexibility to hire proactively rather than reactively.
Continued growth in data center construction, capacity, and power demand increases the volume and variety of roles needed across a project's life cycle, from skilled trades during construction to technical and operations roles after commissioning. As documented by organizations including CBRE, JLL, and the U.S. Department of Energy, that growth has been substantial in 2025 and 2026, which increases competition for the same regional and national labor pools other expanding projects are drawing from.
At minimum: the skilled trades needed for construction, the technical roles needed for commissioning, and the operations, maintenance, and network support roles needed once the facility is live. Each phase typically requires different sourcing approaches, screening criteria, and lead times, so all three should be planned for before groundbreaking, not addressed one at a time as each phase arrives.
Practical steps include forecasting labor needs against project milestones rather than waiting for immediate need, treating construction and operations hiring as separate pipelines, confirming that contractors and vendors have their own workforce plans in place, and using a flexible mix of direct hire, contract, and project-based staffing to match the right model to each phase.
A workforce strategy for data center growth typically includes a phase-by-phase labor forecast tied to the project timeline, an assessment of critical skill and credentialing requirements, an honest look at regional labor availability, a plan for internal recruiting capacity versus staffing partner support, realistic hiring lead times, and a contingency plan for delays or vendor shortfalls.
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