One thing is certain: the data center/mission-critical industry is one of the longest ongoing apprenticeship programs, albeit informal, that is still going strong. College coursework has not kept pace with the growing array of vocations and demand for resources. In fact, many degreed individuals still rely on certifications post-degree. So why is it so challenging to grow and attract talent into the industry? I believe we still suffer from living in the shadows.
Data centers work so hard to be continuously available that most people take them for granted. They exist for our benefit, but not many understand how they work, much like the electrical utility. As long as it works, no one pays attention. And with over 300,000 open jobs, we have a talent problem. College curriculum has not kept up with industry demands, and to this day, most people who enter the data center industry do so without any formal plan to do so. Most of us just fall in from another sector. But the tides are changing! Apprenticeships are helping.
Many tech companies have dropped their degree requirements (which they would have likely waived for the right candidate) due to insufficient candidates. As tech companies struggle to increase diversity, degree requirements kept many from applying in the first place. Women tend to apply to jobs where they feel they fit 100% of the boxes, whereas our male counterparts will generally apply regardless. When I wrote my book last year, 31% of the adult working-age participants had a 4 year or better degree. Of those, 17% are doctors and lawyers, leaving 14% for everything left over.
But we are in an age of change. Apprenticeships, internships, vocational-technical training, and skilled trades are returning. Organizations like MikeRoweWorks have been instrumental in highlighting the critical work skilled trades provide. I would go further and say that we owe the trades everything. Without them, nothing would be built. Tradespersons do work in this industry that will leave any observer gobsmacked at the artistry. They often miss the accolades.
The paths to knowledge are as varied as those seeking wisdom. There simply isn’t one correct pathway. Some people choose college as a start, some gravitate to college much later at a company’s expense, while others gain their knowledge at the end of their fingertips by jumping in hands first. These are all correct pathways and often cross over in practice anyway. So why don’t we celebrate all of the onramps to the industry? Thankfully, that, too, is changing.
Apprenticeships are quickly developing in the data center industry. There are incentives for employers at the federal level, and many states have matching or similar incentives. Those aside, the benefits to the workforce and employer are vast. While most employers try to go this alone, organizations exist that will set up internal apprenticeships for you with your key learning objectives. These organizations not only set up the apprenticeship program for you, but they also keep the talent funnel going. But why would a company consider an apprenticeship outside tax and other incentives? Here are a few reasons to consider your own.
- When you take an interest in employee development, you take an interest in your employee personally, which is noticed, appreciated, and increases loyalty.
- You can teach your procedures and policies instead of adapting learning to them after the fact.
- You can ensure that learning encompasses your core values and set up teams for long-term internal relationships.
- You can be far nimbler with internal resources, bringing in the knowledge that matters. Core vendors can become part of the overall success.
- The company can employ one training resource for multiple employees for more significant economies of scale.
- Training the trainers can create internal circles of excellence that accommodate constant employee growth.
- Learning can become an incentive, just like a raise.
- Tuition reimbursement payments can be used internally instead and used for new programs. Also, company dollars won’t be spent on electives that do not apply to the job.
- Companies that invest in employees generally enjoy lower turnover and associated expenses.
- Training resources are helpful in other business areas as subject matter experts.
- In-house training is more reactionary to real-time moves, adds, and changes.
But how do we get employees for apprenticeships? The trick is to reach out to people at a much younger age. The data center industry should be an aspiration and inspiration, not an afterthought. We need to normalize some of the words we use. Things don’t “go to the cloud.” They go to a data center where people have contributed sweat and ingenuity. Coding academies are fantastic, but they are only one aspect of the tech industry. The technology industry loses students who aren’t fans of coding due to a lack of exposure to trades, networking, and other non-coding jobs.
Larger technical companies are working to cross-train employees and skill-grow workforces. But the pace is not keeping up with the demand. Younger workers are worried that AI will remove their viability in the workforce. It enhances it! AI is not infallible. Workers must ensure that language models and knowledge sets are verified and accurate. We need every background in the industry to ensure that technology works for us and not the other way around.
We need a new workforce that doesn’t just want to use technology but rather one that understands HOW things work. To do that, we need to get back to hands-on learning. We need all our young people to feel pride in making something with their hands. When I was young, we made ashtrays in a pottery class for our parents (how times have changed). But we should be lighting fires in young minds with engineering projects, building things, watching things fail, and figuring out why. In some ways, I feel that when everyone must learn a single way, we are engineering out a lot of our diversity of thought. We should be teaching them about sustainability as responsible consumers of technology. There are many careers, from digging in the dirt to writing code and everything in between.
