Data Center Workforce to Shrink 23% by 2036
Operators must implement new mentorship programs as thousands of experienced technical staff approach retirement.
Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Data Centers
Live Poll
Should companies invest more in apprenticeships to address future workforce shortages?
The data center industry is projected to lose 23% of its workforce to retirement by 2036. This industry-wide forecast, based on a survey of 300 senior decision-makers, suggests that approximately 6,340 workers will reach retirement age between 2031 and 2036.
Why it matters
Mass retirements threaten to drain the specialized technical expertise and institutional knowledge required to manage critical data center infrastructure. The industry must now accelerate workforce development programs to maintain operational stability during this period of transition.
Regional retirement projections show Nordic operators leading with a 28% exit rate, followed by Ireland at 24.43% and the UK at 18.74%. These figures necessitate filling thousands of specialized roles, including 4,455 in the UK, 813 in Ireland, and 974 in the Nordic region.
The players
Onnec
A global infrastructure solutions provider that conducted the survey on data center labor demographics.
The details
The projected exits stem from a demographic shift among staff who manage physical servers, power systems, and cooling architectures. To mitigate the loss of specialized knowledge, operators are being urged to adopt structured apprenticeship and mentoring frameworks. These programs are designed to facilitate the transfer of tacit technical skills from veteran technicians to incoming staff before the projected 2031-2036 retirement window reaches its peak.
Timeline
2031-2036: Approximately 6,340 data center workers are expected to retire.
The Tech Race
This projection highlights the critical gap between current talent pipelines and the infrastructure requirements of a scaling digital economy. It underscores a growing competitive race to capture and train skilled labor as retirement-driven turnover accelerates across key European regions.
Data center operators will likely shift recruitment focus toward entry-level apprenticeship candidates as the 2031-2036 window approaches. Professionals in this sector should expect increased demand for institutional knowledge transfer roles and structured mentorship opportunities.
The takeaway
The data center industry faces a significant labor cliff that will require proactive hiring and training protocols by 2031. Organizations should monitor the adoption rates of these proposed apprenticeship programs to see if they can effectively mitigate the loss of specialized expertise.
Further reading
For broader trends in infrastructure management, explore our Data Centers section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TechRadar.
Live Poll
Should companies invest more in apprenticeships to address future workforce shortages?
