Data centres, 2.4 million skilled workers missing worldwide
Equinix's initiatives to bring digital natives closer to the profiles that are missing were presented. Grandi (managing director): 'We aim to invest around one billion euro, in Italia, in five years'
The global data centre industry is lacking at least 2.4 million workers. Engineers and profiles with a basis in electronics and electrical engineering, which however must be declined in the management of infrastructure, applications (often different from customer to customer), the cloud, the management of cooling and climate control systems, security practices. As well as plumbers and electricians specialised in these operations.
With the aim of attracting new talent, yesterday in Milan, during the second national 'Data Centre Day', Equinix presented - in front of an audience of fifth-year students from a number of Milanese technical institutes and the ITS Rizzoli - a series of initiatives to bring digital natives and students closer to the technology hubs, opening its 'historic' data centre in Via Savona, Milan, to them.
'As Equinix,' explained Emanuela Grandi, managing director of Equinix Italia, 'we aim to invest around EUR 1 billion in data centres in Italia over the next five years. But the structure is not enough. The vast majority of people do not know what really goes on inside a data centre, so they do not consider a career in this field or do not know what course of study or training to take. AI,' Grandi concluded, 'is radically transforming the labour market and the skills required are evolving rapidly.
Equinix - a $95 billion data centre operator with 270 assets in 36 countries, as well as a leading player in the REIT sector - aims to expand its Pathway to Tech programme globally and also in Italia, after a two-year pilot project that reached almost 2,000 students aged between 14 and 18 in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
The programme offers students, also in synergy with PoliMi and ITS and technical high schools, hands-on experience in digital infrastructure through interactive sessions with Equinix professionals, data centre visits and immersive events, creating clear pathways for internships, apprenticeships and first job opportunities. A centralised global programme is introduced, with an updated curriculum and uniform standards across all countries in which Equinix operates. A way of facilitating access to the international market, with recognised training, in a high-demand but little-known sector. The professional profiles, to date, in Italia, are framed in the services contract.
