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DCD’s studio interview with Christian Goldsmith of Arcadis, published October 8, 2026 with Tom Liddy as interviewer, frames data-center talent shortages around three levers: workforce planning, strategic training, and global external accreditation. The episode page gives only that synopsis. It does not include a transcript or a list of specific recommendations from Goldsmith, so this article does not attribute particular tactics, credentials, or outcomes to him. Instead, it sets out the workforce problem with attributable figures and explains how each of the three levers works in practice.
What the episode covers, and what it does not
- Covered by the publisher’s synopsis: critical talent shortages in the data-center sector, workforce planning, strategic training, and global external accreditation.
- Not established from the public page: Goldsmith’s specific recommendations, the accreditation schemes he discusses, and any verbatim statements. Readers who need his exact positions should watch or read the full episode on DCD before quoting him.
How large the shortage is
The most useful shortage data comes from operator surveys. Uptime Institute’s Global Data Center Survey 2025 is the reference point here, and its figures describe operator responses, not a count of every open vacancy in the industry.
Hiring: finding qualified candidates
In Uptime Institute’s 2025 survey, 46% of operators reported difficulty finding qualified candidates for vacant roles. Uptime describes the industry as having faced staff and skills shortages for more than a decade, and it reports that the position was persistent but not worse than the previous year.
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The same survey found that 37% of operators reported difficulty retaining staff. Hiring and retention are separate problems. A training program that fills entry-level seats does little if experienced staff leave at a similar rate.
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Where the gaps sit
Uptime reports continued need for operations managers and persistent shortfalls in electrical and mechanical trades. Those are the roles where a training or accreditation pathway is most often compared against on-the-job experience, so they are the natural starting point for any workforce plan.
Growth in U.S. data-center employment
The U.S. Census Bureau’s January 6, 2025 analysis reports that data-center employment rose by more than 60% between 2016 and 2023. Growth was uneven across states, so a national average hides large regional differences.
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The same analysis gives a 2023 count of 501,000 people working in data centers. That count is attributed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as reported by the Census Bureau. It is separate from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators, which produced the growth distribution by state. The Census analysis also reports demographic differences in the U.S. workforce; those findings describe the United States only and should not be applied to the global workforce.
Workforce planning: matching headcount to the work
Workforce planning is the first lever in the episode synopsis. In general terms, a plan connects three things: the roles a site or company will need as capacity grows, the number of people currently qualified for those roles, and the rate at which people leave. Shortages become visible when the gap between the first and second figures is measured against the third.
DCD Intelligence and DCD Academy ran a global data-center workforce survey in June 2026 with 161 respondents. Its announcement says the survey examined staffing levels, recruitment initiatives, expansion strategies, training access and quality, and the effects of AI and automation. The announcement describes scope rather than findings, so any specific result should be checked in the full report before it is quoted.
Training pathways: what to compare
Training and certification are real pathways into data-center roles, but no source supplied here establishes that any single program is universally effective. When comparing options, check the following for each one:
- Target role: operations, electrical, mechanical, construction, or management. A certificate for one role does not qualify someone for another.
- Entry level and prerequisites: the education, experience, or age requirements stated by the provider.
- Practical content: how much of the training is hands-on, and whether it takes place on equipment similar to what employers run.
- Credential issuer and recognition: who issues the credential, whether it is external to the training provider, and whether employers in the target market recognize it.
- Geographic availability: where the program runs, and whether the credential carries over to other countries.
- Employer involvement and placement evidence: whether employers helped design the course, and whether the provider publishes placement outcomes that can be checked independently.
- Cost and time commitment: tuition, the length of the program, and whether the candidate is paid during training.
A provider example: ST Telemedia’s DC Power-Up 2.0
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Philippines announced DC Power-Up 2.0 in April 2026 as a training and certification program for aspiring data-center professionals in the Philippines. It is a concrete example of the training lever in practice. It is also a provider’s own description of its program. No independent evidence on its outcomes was available, and nothing in the announcement shows that the model would work in other markets.
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Accreditation: what to verify before relying on a credential
External accreditation is the third lever in the synopsis. Before treating any credential as a hiring signal, confirm the following:
- Identify the body that issues the credential and confirm that it is separate from the company selling the training.
- Ask whether the credential’s holders are employed in the target role, and whether employers you would apply to recognize it.
- Check whether the credential is current, and how it is renewed.
- Compare the credential against the role’s requirements in the job description, not against the course title.
Accreditation schemes differ in scope and recognition, and the public episode page does not name the specific schemes discussed. Treat any claim about universal acceptance with caution unless the issuing body documents it.
Where to go next
Watch the full DCD episode for Goldsmith’s own account of workforce planning, training, and accreditation. For the industry’s own numbers, read Uptime Institute’s Global Data Center Survey 2025 and the Census Bureau’s January 2025 analysis, and wait for the full DCD Intelligence and DCD Academy workforce report before quoting its findings.
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