Paul Mongan, Engineering Manager at Davenham Switchgear, believes that surging demand for data centres could be the key to tackling the UK’s growing STEM skills shortage.

Despite efforts to plug the UK’s tech skills gap, progress isn’t being made fast enough. Reports suggest there aren’t enough students graduating from STEM subjects to meet industry demand and many of those graduates are abandoning the industry quickly, citing limited career opportunities, lack of access to flexible working and poor inclusivity as key factors in their decision.

Exploring the situation in schools reveals ongoing challenges in strengthening the science and engineering pipeline, particularly around the wider conversation of women in STEM, where just 16% of girls think a career in engineering is suitable for someone like them compared to 44% of boys. Switching careers later in life is also becoming increasingly difficult, with more than half (51%) of UK workers being offered no retraining opportunities – far behind the global average of 26%.

Concerns are increasing about meeting future STEM workforce needs, which are projected to cost the UK some £120 billion by 2030. And it’s clear that the industry needs to shake off stereotypes about the kinds of roles it offers – and who to. The question is, how?

Data centres to drive change

Some critics suggest that an over-reliance on high-tech infrastructure is damaging the STEM community, branding data centres ‘a victim of their own success’. With the technical and engineering industries already struggling to hire, it might appear as though the demand for data centres will only be adding to the pressure, with more and more employers fighting over a dwindling talent pool.

My experience, however, tells me that they could actually be the change the industry has been searching for.

Thanks largely to the AI boom, data centre demand is expected to grow up to 20% per year with the potential to add an additional £44 billion in value to the UK economy over the next decade. It’s a growing industry, and one that’s guaranteed to need skilled hands to manage it. It’s a pattern we’re already seeing in the sustainability sector. An urgent need for more green technology to help meet environmental targets meant the number of ‘green’ job ads surpassed a quarter of a million in 2024; more than double the 124,600 roles recorded in 2021.

Data centre design, construction and operation requires expertise at all phases of the data centre lifecycle. With both physical and digital infrastructure to support, data centres can offer a huge range of jobs for potential employees to take their pick from. Broader choice means more potential opportunities for employers to net talent.

It also means there’s more growth and development options on offer for employees looking to retrain. In our case, roles like electrical engineer and electrical panel wirer have proven to be especially popular, making up 45% of all applications we’ve received across our roles. In fact, it’s proving to be one of the fastest recruitment processes we’ve experienced to date. This can be attributed to an increased awareness of the potential within this sector to deliver high quality and sustainable jobs, further demonstrating the genuine appeal of the industry right now.

And it isn’t just the data centres themselves that will create jobs. Supporting infrastructure, such as power, will also need to grow to support the growing demands of data centres.

Focusing on recruitment and retention

It’s evident that there’s going to be a need for more data centres in the UK, especially if we want to secure and maintain our position as a global leader in technology and AI as the Government has recently outlined. But if the country wants to realise these ambitions, and reap the economic benefits, it’s imperative that a plan on short and long-term recruitment is in place.

A greater demand for technical skills means we’re likely to see the attractiveness of STEM roles increase to entice top talent into the sector. After all, engineering firms that can’t match the perks that employees have come to expect from other sectors are going to lose out.

For example, it’s typical for most factory-based roles to operate on a traditional 5-day working week, but this doesn’t leave much space for flexible working requests, particularly for parents who require time for child care. And, let’s be honest, sporadically cutting production runs short here and there is unlikely to be feasible for most manufacturers working to strict schedules.

We’ve led the change by switching all our factory-based engineers to a 4-day week as standard. The change has been hugely popular among our current team, and also makes us a lot more attractive to prospective candidates joining from other plants. 

Enhanced training opportunities

The UK education system is fortunate to offer well-established and highly-respected technical and academic qualifications, but it’s vital that this is also accompanied with real-world experience. We’re already seeing some positive signs in this area, with the creation of dedicated data centre programmes and apprenticeships.

Partnerships with educational organisations could give employers the chance to demonstrate to potential employees the great opportunities available to them, and help ensure that a healthy pipeline of talent continues to develop. 

The industry needs to challenge people’s perception of engineering – known for its long, unsociable hours, dangerous environments and little variety in tasks – and what it means to work in the field today. Being at the cutting-edge of the latest innovations. It’s not just about technical expertise, either, but also organisational skills, problem-solving and the enjoyment of working in a dynamic industry where things are constantly changing.

Where to start?

For firms keen to nurture the next wave of engineers, location still matters. Regions with strong transport links, established manufacturing clusters and nearby universities can shorten recruitment lead-times and widen the talent pool – all prerequisites for staffing time-critical data-centre projects. Nottingham, for instance, combines two research-led universities with a sizeable engineering workforce and good motorway and airport connections; other cities such as Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow offer similar mixes of infrastructure and skills.

Once a base is chosen, the quickest win is to build formal partnerships with technical colleges, universities and independent training providers. Undergraduate work placements, sponsored master’s projects and shared apprenticeship schemes give students first-hand exposure to modern power-distribution or controls work, while employers gain early access to candidates who already understand data-centre operating constraints.

At the same time, experienced engineers from legacy industries should not be overlooked. The closure of coal-fired plants such as Ratcliffe-on-Soar has released hundreds of high-voltage specialists whose competencies map well onto mission-critical facilities. Targeted bridging courses – covering, say, IEC 61439 switchgear requirements or Tier III resilience standards – can redeploy that expertise within months rather than years.

Finally, the sector needs to make good on the promise of flexible, sustainable careers. Four-day shift patterns, transparent progression paths and visible role models – especially women and mid-career switchers – signal that data-centre engineering is neither a dead-end nor a sacrifice of work-life balance.

None of these measures alone will erase a £120 billion skills shortfall, but taken together they convert the data centre boom from a drain on STEM talent into a magnet for it. If industry, educators and policymakers align on training and retention now, the coming decade could see the UK move from simply coping with demand to exporting the high-value expertise that powers the world’s digital infrastructure.