The rapid development of AI is fueling a data center boom, unlocking billions of dollars in investments to build the infrastructure needed to support data- and energy-hungry models. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are among the key players backing large-scale AI projects, betting that new data centers will create jobs. In the United States, the Trump administration announced in late January the US $500 billion Stargate Project, a partnership with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank to build data centers nationwide. The project promises more than 100,000 new U.S. jobs over the next four years. Globally, the demand for data centers is projected to rise between 19 and 22 percent from 2023 to 2030, according to McKinsey, with operators expanding their facilities into parts of Asia, South America, and the Middle East.
This surge in construction has created a strong demand for certain electrical engineers, whose expertise in power systems and energy efficiency is essential for designing, building, and maintaining energy-intensive AI infrastructure. The data center industry contributed 4.7 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2023—a 60 percent increase from 2017, according to a 2025 PwC report. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 9 percent growth rate for electrical engineering jobs between 2023 and 2033, more than double the average for all occupations, with a median pay of $109,010 per year.
But with the uptick in demand, data centers are struggling to find qualified talent. A 2023 Uptime Institute report found that 58 percent of global data center operators faced difficulties sourcing talent for open roles. Without enough skilled engineers to manage power distribution systems, data centers risk increased downtime and potential grid instability, especially as AI-driven workloads demand more energy.
Engineers Are Key to AI Infrastructure
Big tech companies are increasingly searching for electrical engineers to scale their data infrastructure. As of mid-March, Amazon, Meta, and Google were looking to fill roles for electrical design engineers, research and development engineers, and mechatronics engineers to build robotic systems, with salaries reaching $281,000 a year, according to job listings. Oracle, which operates more than 150 data centers worldwide, has listed more than a dozen electrical engineering roles across its data facilities.
Engineering firms are also seeing a spike in demand. Karina Hershberg, associate principal at PAE Consulting Engineers, says data center clients in need of her firm’s expertise have drastically increased over the past two years. Many clients require power systems on the scale of a “small town,” Hershberg says, and electrical engineers are expected to meet their demands within tight timelines of a year or two.
The work involves sourcing power, optimizing energy distribution, designing emergency backup systems, and integrating cooling mechanisms to prevent overheating. As AI advances, engineers must also address new challenges in power stability and energy efficiency.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Hershberg says. “AI is introducing a whole new set of challenges to power systems, and we need people who really understand the engineering and science behind it.”
Sustainability efforts are further boosting demand for electrical engineers. As data centers explore solar, wind, and nuclear energy, engineers must design power distribution systems that can efficiently transmit energy from production sites to facilities, according to Jim Kozlowski, chief sustainability officer and vice president of global data center operations at Ensono, an IT service management firm. Engineers specializing in renewable energy, he says, will find plenty of opportunities in the data center industry.
“As an engineer coming into this world, you could focus on renewable energy and develop a great career there, because those opportunities are only going to grow,” Kozlowski says.
Competitive Data Center Jobs
The hiring landscape for electrical engineers in data centers is fiercely competitive. Grace Søhoel-Goldberg, who leads electrical engineering recruitment at LVI Associates, a global staffing firm for the infrastructure sector, has seen demand for electrical engineers soar as more companies enter the data center ring. What was once a small group of companies competing for niche talent, she says, has nearly tripled over the past few years.
“It’s very cutthroat,” Søhoel-Goldberg says of the data center job market. Even with high demand, hiring the right people remains a challenge, she adds. Data center operators and engineering firms compete for the same limited pool of candidates, and large companies with better salaries and perks have the advantage, often poaching talent from smaller firms.
Another barrier is employer expectations. Many companies only want to hire engineers who’ve been working at data centers for years, making it harder to hire qualified candidates from transferable backgrounds such as industrial engineering. Søhoel-Goldberg believes this creates an unnecessary talent bottleneck.
A lack of awareness about data center careers further widens the talent gap. Electrical engineering roles in data centers require specialized knowledge in power infrastructure, typically learned in the construction industry. But based on conversations with students, PAE Consulting’s Hershberg says that university programs rarely highlight career paths in this sector. As a result, graduates are often steered toward software and high-tech fields, making it harder for them to transition into data centers later in their careers.
“We’re just not seeing the talent pool at that graduation level,” Hershberg says.
Closing the Talent Gap
Some universities are stepping up to address the skills shortage. Southern Methodist University in Texas, for example, offers one of the few master’s programs in data center systems engineering designed for students interested in a data center career. The University of Wisconsin-Madison runs boot camps including a three-day course on data center design and operation, preparing students for roles such as electrical designers.
Beyond universities, online platforms like Udemy offer data center fundamentals courses, and Amazon Web Services and Microsoft run skills training programs for both current employees and aspiring professionals to create a pipeline of entry-level technician talent.
From a hiring perspective, Søhoel-Goldberg advises engineers without direct data center experience to gain transferable skills in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems by working in other sectors including healthcare, wastewater treatment, or manufacturing. She also recommends acquiring certifications such as Engineer-in-Training (EIT) and Professional Engineer (PE) licenses.
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