Published in Conjunction with MARKET BRIEFING GLOBAL DATA CENTER EMPLOYMENT 2015
2015 Growth in data center employment continues but the workforce is changing Globally, the number of people working in or for data centers increased to approximately 585,000 in 2014 and to an estimated 620,000 in 2015. This number includes facility staff and managers, IT and network managers, engineers and project managers, technical specialists and directors and C-level managers. In the 12 months from mid-2014 to mid-2015, there will be an overall 6.1% increase in the number of people employed in the industry. As with other key data center metrics, the growth rate continues to slow. It s down marginally from 6.5% between 2012 and 2013 and a rate of 17.4% in the 12 months from mid-2011. Although the rate of increase and its slowing is similar to other key industry metrics (space, racks, investment) the slower growth in established markets reflects the slower expansion of new data center white space, as well as the deployment of labor-saving technologies. More recently developed markets show higher rates of increase, as do those clusters of markets starting to develop a data center capability in South East Asia, Eastern, Africa and. The proportion of people working on the IT/networks side of the data center industry has increased steadily while those on the facility side have remained steady. This change is due to the trends towards convergence, the deployment of IT architectures and services and the increasing role of software in data center management and operation. Figure 1: Rise in data center employment Key Facility IT Total 700 600 500 400 435 510 550 585 620 300 200 100 240 195 280 230 290 260 295 290 305 315 15% 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2
In the year from 2013 to 2014, all global regions with the exception of have rates of employment growth that lie above the global average and within the range of 7% to 9%. The region with 40% of global employees has growth rates of 3.7%, which is below the global average. From 2014 to 2015 the rate of increase in North America drops back 5%. As the numbers of people employed in the data center industry continue to increase, so double-digit rates of growth become more difficult to achieve. The same trends have been observed in relation to space, racks and power very high rates of growth as the industry matured and then slower rates after that. Other findings from the Census, in particular key concerns about the impact of skills wer Consumption shortage Averaged and of increasing Over Previous labour costs, 12 Months indicate (Mw) that growth in numbers needs to be allied with an increased skills capability in order to meet the growing and changing requirements of the sector. Figure 2: Increase in Employment by region in 2013-2015 NAM +9.1% +5.0% +3.7% +3.5% +6.9% +6.9% MEA +7.1% +13.2% +8.0% +8.7% Figure 3: Percentage of global employment 2014 CHANGE 2012 Key 2013 3
Across, employment in the data center industry grew by 8.7% from 2014 to 2015, above the global average. The region is split between growth rates that are above the global average (China, India and the South East Asian markets outside Singapore) and lower rates of growth in the longer-established markets. North America Employment growth in North America was higher than in any other region of the world into 2014. Into 2015 it has dropped back closer to the global average. In Canada, the high rate of growth is consistent with recent data center growth. In the US, employment growth can be linked to the market s global leadership role in the development of new technologies and architectures for data center deployment. The technological advancements of these two markets have also enabled them to account for a far lower proportion of data center employment than their share of global data center assets and investment. This is due to the very high deployment rate for labor-saving technologies, a strong tradition of multitasking and some of the highest labor costs in the world. To 2014 and 2015, growth in n data center employment declined to a rate of 6.9% (or around half of the 2012 to 2013 rate). The cluster of smaller and very recently established markets (Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and to a lesser extent the states along the north coast of South America) are the fastest growing. The continuing fast asset and investment growth of the region is creating very high levels of concern about skills and climbing labor costs, particularly as levels of the deployment of practices or technologies that might save the need for labor is below the global average. s rate of employment increase is the lowest in the world at 3.5%. While the highest numbers of an data center employment lie in the markets of western, data from established markets elsewhere in the world indicates that such markets can achieve strong growth. However, the markets of western report slowing asset and investment growth, and (in some cases) wider economic malaise and this will reduce the demand for employment in the data center sector. In the context of current data center transitions, the larger western markets have large enough available skill and access to training to meet the changing requirements with existing resource. Middle East & Africa The strongest employment growth rates in the Middle East and Africa are in Africa (excluding South Africa). The African continent accounts for nearly all growth across the region. There is some employment growth in the three major markets in the region (the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and South Africa) as there has been little asset growth and relatively little deployment of disruptive technologies requiring new skill sets. In the Middle East the reliance on imported labor and very high costs of labor may also restrict employment growth. Table 1: Data Center Employees by Market & Region, 2013-15 1 Japan 50,000 52,500 54,000 2.9% 2 India 25,000 27,000 31,500 16.7% 3 Mainland China 22,000 25,000 28,000 12.0% 4 Singapore 12,500 13,150 13,500 2.7% 5 Australia + New Zealand 12,000 12,300 12,500 1.6% 6 Indonesia 7,000 7,700 8,500 10.4% 7 Malaysia 3,500 3,900 4,500 15.4% 8 Hong Kong 3,250 3,400 3,600 5.9% 9 Other Markets 4,500 6,000 8,000 33.3% ASIA PACIFIC 139,750 150,950 164,100 8.7% North America 1 USA 95,000 103,500 108,500 4.8% 2 CANADA 14,500 16,000 17,000 6.3% North America 109,500 119,500 125,500 5.0% 1 Brazil 26,000 28,000 30,500 8.9% 2 Mexico 13,000 13,750 14,500 5.5% 3 Argentina 9,500 9,600 9,750 1.6% 4 Colombia 7,000 7,450 8,000 7.4% 5 Chile 7,000 7,250 7,500 3.8% 6 Peru 4,500 4,900 5,250 7.1% 7 Central America 4,000 4,250 4,500 5.9% 8 Other Markets 1,250 2,000 2,500 25.0% LATIN AMERICA 72,250 77,200 82,500 6.9% 1 United Kingdom + Ireland 40,000 41,250 41,500 0.6% 2 Germany 28,500 30,000 32,500 8.3% 3 France 26,500 27,000 27,500 1.9% 4 Spain 18,000 17,500 17,250-1.4% 5 Italy 18,000 17,500 17,000-2.9% 6 Russia 13,000 14,000 15,000 7.1% 7 Netherlands 12,000 12,250 12,750 4.1% 8 Turkey 10,500 11,750 12,500 6.4% 9 Switzerland 9,500 9,500 9,750 2.6% 10 Nordic Markets 8,500 8,750 9,000 2.9% 11 Poland 6,500 6,900 7,250 5.1% 12 Belgium + Luxembourg 5,000 5,250 5,300 1.0% 13 Other Markets 8,500 10,500 12,350 17.6% EUROPE 204,500 212,150 219,650 3.5% Middle East & Africa 1 United Arab Emirates + Gulf 9,500 9,600 10,250 6.8% 2 South Africa 8,250 8,450 8,750 3.6% 3 Saudi Arabia 4,500 4,650 5,250 12.9% 4 Other Markets 1,750 3,000 5,000 66.7% Middle East & Africa 24,000 25,700 29,250 13.8% Total 550,000 585,500 621,000 6.1% Global: 621,000 + 6.1% 2014 2015 4
FOR MORE INFORMATION: +44 (0)20 7426 4813 info@dcd-intelligence.com