Data Centre Talent Shortage Survey

Data Centre sector continues to report a pressing global skills shortage.  However, data to identify what skills are lacking, why labour is in short supply and what impact this is having on organisations within the sector is scant. 

It is known that the sector has a shortage of data centre specific skills driven by rapid technological development, a labour shortage as qualified people are drawn away by more well-known sectors, and a diversity problem in that our labour pool is limited and without a dedicated pipeline.  However, we have little robust evidence to devise informed responses to these issues.

This survey aims to gather key data to inform interventions that are targeted and effective.  

Participation in the survey is anonymous and all identifying material will be removed before publication.

Consolidated results and research output will be made available to education institutions, industry associations and industry partners.  This is not a commercial activity.

Questions can be directed to Dr Theresa Simpkin, Higher and Further Education Principal, CNet Training - tsimpkin@cnet-training.com.

Your participation is voluntary, anonymous (if required) and much appreciated.

 

 

I agree to providing information regarding skills and labour shortages experienced. I understand I can withdraw at any time. I understand that data will be anonymised.
Yes
No. Please exit the survey.
I am responding on behalf of my
Entire organisation
Organisational region (e.g. EMEA, Asia Pac)
Single facility
Department within a single facility
Self
Within which region do you work? Please state.
Organisation type.
Co-location
Enterprise
Hyperscale
Public Cloud provider
Facilities Management or equivalent
Vendor
Other
Please Specify:
Facility type.
Co-location facility
Enterprise facility
Public Cloud facility
Hyperscale facility
Other
Please Specify:
Self (please identify your role in the data centre sector).
My organisation/facility/department/self has experience of skills and/or labour shortages with the data centre sector.
Yes
No.
We'd love to know how you're avoiding problems with accessing people with the required skills to meet demand! Please identify.
Which roles are currently difficult to fill? Please identify the role for which most shortages exist.
Role most in shortage
Role Title
Personal skills in shortage (e.g. communication skills)
Technical skills in shortage
Qualifications or certifications in shortage (i.e. formal education, licence to practice)
Other essential skills/capabilities in shortage (if any)
You can upload exemplar role/job descriptions here if you wish (you can add multiple files).
Role Two
Role Three
Role Title
Personal skills in shortage (e.g. communication)
Technical skills in shortage
Qualifications in shortage (i.e. formal certifications or education)
Other essential skills/capabilities in shortage (if any)
You can upload exemplar role/job descriptions here if you wish (you can add multiple files).
Generally speaking, what makes the identified roles difficult to fill? Select all that apply.
Too few applicants
Candidates do not have the required skills/competencies
Candidates do not have the required formal qualifications
Candidates do not have enough experience
Candidates are 'poached' by other employers prior to commencement
Candidates demand different remuneration package than what is on offer (e.g. want a higher salary)
Candidates will not relocate
Shift patterns are unattractive to candidates
Working conditions are unattractive to candidates
Mismatch of candidate to role from external recruiters
Mismatch of candidate to role from internal recruiters
Lack of clarity of role specification from recruiting managers
Other
Please Specify:
On average, how long does it take to fill data centre vacancies?
Less than one month
One to three months
Four to six months
Over six months
Do the identified skills/labour shortages impact on your business operation? Choose and rate all those that apply.
One star is no impact, two is low impact, three is moderate impact, four is serious impact, five is severe impact.
Limits profitability
Increased workload on others
Impediment to innovation
Limits diversity and inclusion
Negatively impacts business critical activities
Adds risk to business operations (e.g. risk of outages, human error)
Capacity to implement beneficial projects is diminished
Please identify any other impacts on your business operation experienced due to skills/labour shortages.
What responses do you or your organisation/department use to address skills and/or labour shortages? Choose all that apply.
Employee remuneration or benefits package change/improvement
Hire from within
Head hunt from other organisations
Use external recruiters
Wait and hope
Train/develop the internal pipeline of talent
Expand the talent pool by attracting from diverse groups (e.g. women & career changers)
Revise the talent strategy
Liaise or partner with training/education providers
Use sub-contractors
Other
Please Specify:
If subcontractors are engaged, is the same rigour of recruitment applied to subcontractors as for employees (e.g. reference and/or qualifications checking)?
Yes
No
Not applicable
In general, are there other technical skills/competencies are in shortage in the data centre sector that you know of? Please identify.
In general, are there other personal skills/competencies are in shortage in the data centre sector that you know of? Please identify.
In your experience, are there other roles that are difficult to fill in the data centre sector? Please identify all that you know of.
With which other stakeholders do you or your organisation actively engage to help diminish the skills/labour shortage in the sector? Choose all that apply.
We actively work with other data centres
We actively work with our vendors
We actively work with industry associations
We actively work with educators (training providers, schools, vocational education, universities)
We actively work with government bodies
Other
Please Specify:
Do you and/or your organisation implement risk management for people or human activity in particular?
Yes
No
Don't know
Please make any other comments you think are important to raise in regard to your experience of the skills/capability/labour shortages in the data centre sector.
I would be happy to be contacted to add more detail to the research. Please provide your name and contact details below. This information will remain confidential and will not be included in the survey data.
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