Data centers are everywhere. What it’s like to work in one.

There are no windows for security purposes. Lit by motion-sensitive overhead fluorescent and blue ambient light, Renan Casaca, one of a handful of technicians on the clock, unravels cables inside a gated area stacked with equipped racks. Machines and fans hum in the background as Casaca, 40, climbs up a ladder to thread a cord through the rack, responding to a service ticket.

Watching the servers’ lights turn green, which indicates a successful connection, is his favorite part of the job.

“It might sound nerdy, but I like completing the connections,” said Casaca, who has a criminal justice degree and first worked as a security guard at a data center. “It gives me a sense of satisfaction.”

After seeing the camaraderie and ability to geek out on technology all day, he went back to school to get certified as a data center technician. Casaca’s unconventional path to working at a data center isn’t unique. Many workers who find jobs at data centers have no prior knowledge about the career.

Quietly tinkering in large, tucked-away warehouse-looking buildings, data center workers like Casaca are a vital part of a multibillion-dollar industry that makes digital systems run smoothly in modern society. These workers are critical to ensuring that digital services, network connections, data processing and storage seamlessly function to keep everything from grocery stores to hospitals to banking systems to even cellphones operating. The spotlight on them is increasingly coming into focus as companies around the world invest heavily in data centers amid the artificial intelligence boom. And competition for qualified talent is intensifying.

More than 468,000 people work at data centers in the United States, according to estimates PwC published in a report for the Data Center Coalition. Direct employment in data centers increased 17 percent from 2017 to 2021 compared with 2 percent in overall growth of U.S. employment during the same period. Analysts predict that revenue in the data center industry will grow exponentially as more companies invest in data centers to support their AI and cloud-computing initiatives. Amazon plans to invest $100 billion in data centers over the next 10 years, while Meta plans to spend up to $40 billion on digital infrastructure, including data centers. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

“People have the expectation in 2024 that tech is just going to work, almost like magic,” said Alex Lokey, 32, who works for the International Game Technology’s Pueblo, Colo., data center, which runs the data infrastructure for the Colorado lottery. “But there are a lot of things that go in on the back end to make sure it works and is consistent, and we’re some of the primary people for that.”

While a single data center doesn’t usually directly employ many — some can operate with 15 crew members or less during day shifts — the types of jobs vary from technical to more general roles like security guards. For higher-paying jobs that are more technical, salaries can range above $150,000, according to the Data Center Coalition.

Inside the black box

Lokey compares his job as a data center operator to that of a firefighter, without the physical danger. Many days he’s just on watchful alert, waiting for a fire, or in his case a technical issue like an outage, to set off alarms. When it happens, he’s on the front line. But a lot of people, some within his own social circle, have no idea what he does.

“Some people think we sit at our desks and scroll on our phones all day,” Lokey said. “We can feel invisible at times.”

Lokey is part of one of the first unionized data centers, under the Communications Workers of America, which is fighting for more equitable pay. Lokey said workers at his level are paid about $50,000 at the higher end, which he estimates is about $40,000 less than the national median.

The interest for Bret Burns, a 37-year-old data center worker in Phoenix, spurred after realizing he loved learning as a Best Buy salesman how TVs, cameras and car stereos work. After a series of jobs, including in technical support, he eventually became certified and employed as a data center technician — a role he didn’t even know existed. To Burns, the autonomy to fix problems without having to wait on anyone else is rewarding. He likes that he also has a greater sense of purpose knowing he plays a role in keeping some of society’s most important services running.

“What I’m working on is important,” said Burns, who has spent the past seven years at a Big Tech company and now serves as a global product lead at data centers. “You feel a part of something bigger.”

Not everything about the job is rewarding. It’s not uncommon for data center workers to be drained by back-to-back 12-hour shifts. On challenging days, workers may be inundated with complex problems like why something isn’t connecting properly. And in some cases, the job can be physically taxing when workers may have to combat several hours of heat in the hot aisles, the designated areas where heat exhausts from servers collect, or load heavy equipment onto racks. Some eco-conscious workers also worry about their industry’s impact on the environment. Then, there’s the concern about good pay and benefits.

“You’re not at the top of the food chain,” Sean Graham, IDC’s research director of data centers, said about data center jobs compared with other high-paying tech roles. “But you can make a decent living if you’re an electrical or mechanical engineer or in data center operations.”

But workers who have specialized skills, like HVAC technicians, could earn a higher salary. Earning more money was one of the draws for Tyrell Cooper, who works nights in critical facilities operations, monitoring power and temperature for a Big Tech company. Cooper, 33, has worked similar roles for 14 years, three at data centers and 11 within other industries.

He has been comfortably making six figures for the past 10 years and has been tapped by recruiters from Amazon Web Services, Meta and other large tech companies for similar positions. While he considers his job mostly low stress, he said it can quickly change.

“I really get paid for when [stuff] hits the fan,” he said, adding that he constantly considers how factors like temperature or precipitation could affect the data center. “If you see me running, that’s not good.”

Talent war

Some municipalities see data centers as a source of job creation, additional tax revenue, and an opportunity to lure tech talent and companies. In some cases, local leaders have offered tax incentives to build data centers. Opponents argue that data centers don’t provide the big economic boom or jobs that most expect.

“There’s much better low-hanging fruit to bring business to the area,” said Republican state Rep. Andrew Beeler, who opposed a proposal for data center tax breaks in Michigan in favor of making state regulations more business friendly. “It never ends up being a silver bullet.”

But for some, working in a data center has made them feel like they’ve had a front seat to digital transformation — an ongoing process that will continue to require skilled workers.

When Detlev Geuss began his career as a director of site operations at an Equinix facility, what later became known as “Data Center Alley,” the nickname Loudoun County in Virginia garnered for its large concentration of data centers, was still developing.

“It’s about being a part of the past 15 to 20 years, having an impact, seeing the internet of things grow and being able to say I was there,” said Geuss, 64, now vice president of data center operations.

Even in regions where the industry is saturated, leaders believe more growth could be coming. In Data Center Alley, through which 70 percent of global internet traffic flows, the industry serves as the largest tax revenue source for Loudoun County, generating $875 million in property tax revenue in fiscal 2024, said Buddy Rizer, who serves as the county’s executive director of economic development. Though the region is also focused on developing other parts of its economy, leaders recognize the value the industry will continue to hold.

“There’s still a ton of growth thanks to AI and the way we use digital information,” Rizer said. “By 2027, an estimated $8.77 trillion of the global economy is going to be dependent on data centers.”

Workers aren’t always easy to find. “There’s a real need for talent, and there’s a talent shortage,” said Nick Mailey, a former executive at Equinix who noted that technical roles like mechanical engineers and HVAC specialists are in demand. “There’s still competition for experienced data center talent.”

Some data centers are taking unconventional steps to fill openings — working with active military branches, veterans, high schools and trade schools, and offering courses and internships to educate and certify others. Some are increasing pay for specialized roles.

Given the demand, Northern Virginia Community College, which runs a data center operations program, says that companies are lining up to hire its students.

“We have people waiting at the door for our graduates to move into their sites,” said Chad Knights, the school’s vice president of information and engineering technologies and college computing. “Students are getting snapped up for jobs before program completion.”

For self-proclaimed tech nerds like Kyle Willett, the joy of being able to tinker with hardware and software was a draw in and of itself. The 33-year-old Oklahoma resident who spent 2½ years as a data center technician was going to school to become a computer scientist, but the sheer excitement of stepping inside data centers made him switch careers.

Asked to explain why he liked his job, he answered: working mostly alone and his love of Linux.