WSJ Tech News Briefing · Friday, September 25, 2026
Interest in data center jobs has seen an eight-fold increase, with companies now actively recruiting younger individuals and partnering with community colleges to develop specialized training programs due to a shortage in skilled trades like electricians and HVAC technicians. This shift allows individuals as young as 18 to enter the booming industry.
“Indeed, has tracked like an eight-fold increase over the last few years of interest in the jobs.”
“But we have a shortage of electricians in the US now. A shortage of a lot of these kind of blue collar trades. And so the companies are looking kind of to younger and younger people to fill these roles.”
“In Ashburn, Virginia, which is really the hub of data centers in America, they have partnered with a local community college, which actually set up a degree program for data center work.”