Uptime Institute Says Data Center Personnel is a Big Priority For Operators
Mar 07, 2023 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
Research by the Uptime Institute revealed data center personnel to be a major concern. The company's "2022 Management and Operations Survey" found that 54% of operators prioritize staffing, followed by 46% who prioritize sustainability. The problem is also expanding, both in terms of new recruitment and employee retention. The percentage of businesses failing to find competent people has climbed from 38% in 2018 to 52% in 2022, while retention challenges have more than doubled from 17% to 42% within the same time frame. Uptime also revealed that three-quarters of operators still employ barely 10% women. 20% of respondents do not employ any women in their design and operational teams. Running a data center with a small or underqualified crew is difficult. Three of the top four reasons for management and operations problems were staffing-related, with 36% citing data center employee execution, 28% citing inadequate personnel, and 21% citing inappropriate staff processes and procedures.
While many businesses are now concerned about the influence of greater AI on the number of employees, the data center industry is divided on whether or not AI would reduce employee numbers. In 2019, 29% of respondents anticipated a decrease in the demand for human labor during the following five years. This decreased to 19% in 2022. For the long term, 52% of respondents see a reduction in the requirement for personnel. Staffing is a continuous challenge, and according to Uptime, it will get worse before it gets better, with a predicted increase from two million full-time employees in 2019 to 2.3 million full-time employees in 2025. In the past several months, numerous technology companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Ericsson, Telia, Dell, Rigetti Computing, and ZTE, have laid off large numbers of employees. The majority of data center-centric positions have been spared (with the exception of Twitter), although a few organizations have ceased hiring.