A data center may look like one place, but it often contains three different labor markets at once: the build crew, the commissioning crew, and the steady-state operations team. That matters because the work, the risk, and the hiring standard change as the site moves from construction to startup to daily operation. The federal industry data back up that separation. The U.S. data-processing, hosting, and related-services subsector is a real operating industry, with average hourly earnings of $59.68 for all employees and average weekly hours of 38.2 in May 2026, but those figures do not describe the temporary surge of contractor labor that appears around a new build or a major retrofit.

Start with the stage, not the title

Employers sometimes write one broad job description and expect it to fit every phase. That is where hiring goes sideways. A construction electrician, a commissioning technician, and an operating facilities technician may all work inside the same facility, but they are not interchangeable. OSHA’s lockout/tagout standard applies to servicing and maintenance work, while explicitly excluding construction employment from that specific rule, which is a strong clue that the workforce changes by stage, not just by location.

That distinction is more than a paperwork issue. During construction and fit-out, crews are installing equipment, pulling cable, setting gear, and working under project safety plans. The Holder Construction data-center project agreement is a good example of that environment: it references daily and weekly safety toolbox talks, third-party crane inspection, critical-lift planning, and injury/illness tracking. That is construction labor with active safety management, not the calmer rhythm of a live operations team.

What commissioning really needs

Commissioning sits between construction and operations, and it is often the most misunderstood stage in hiring. The work is not just “testing stuff.” It is proving that systems perform as intended, documenting what was tested, and handing that evidence to the people who will own the site next. O*NET task language for network architects and industrial machinery mechanics shows the kind of discipline this stage demands: documenting activities, developing testing routines, recording repairs, and maintaining contingency plans.

That is why commissioning hires should be screened for more than general technical confidence. A candidate needs the habit of writing down conditions, preserving test results, and respecting authority boundaries. In a commissioning environment, the right question is not only “Can you troubleshoot?” but also “Can you capture what happened so another team can safely take over?” That is especially important because the move from contractor control to operator control changes who owns the asset, who approves the next step, and who carries the maintenance record forward.

What operations need that projects do not

Once a facility is live, the job shifts from proving readiness to preserving reliability. O*NET’s work activities for relevant occupations repeatedly include documenting activities, recording repairs, conferring with coworkers, assigning duties, and maintaining schedules and contingency plans. In plain English, operations work is a handoff business. The site runs on logs, shift notes, change records, and escalation discipline as much as it runs on equipment.

This is also where the boundary between facilities operations and IT becomes important. O*NET treats computer network architects and information security analysts as different work from mechanical or electrical facility roles. Network architects design and implement data communications networks, while security analysts monitor and protect information systems. Those are important data-center jobs, but they are not the same thing as cooling, switchgear, or plant maintenance. Employers who blur those categories end up screening the wrong people for the wrong work.

A better hiring checklist for employers

A useful internal test is simple: what stage owns the work, and what kind of proof does that stage require?

  • Construction / fit-out: hire for field execution, safety awareness, lift planning, and the ability to work inside a contractor-led safety system.
  • Commissioning / turnover: hire for documentation, testing discipline, handoff readiness, and respect for changing authority.
  • Operations / maintenance: hire for preventive care, recordkeeping, controlled access, response habits, and steady communication across shifts.

The same project can require all three, but not from the same person at the same moment. The practical inference from the federal sources is that employers should write stage-specific job descriptions, then interview against the actual workflow rather than a generic “technical background.”

What applicants should show instead

Applicants can use the same stage-based lens to present themselves more clearly. A resume that says “HVAC experience” is helpful, but it is stronger if it says what kind of HVAC work, in what environment, and with what level of control responsibility. O*NET’s mechanical and electrical role descriptions make that distinction visible: heating and refrigeration work is not the same as power distribution, and controls work is not the same as routine replacement labor.

For people trying to move into the field, the published training pathways are encouraging because they are specific. Mesa Community College’s Data Center Operations certificate includes Industrial Safety, Modern Maintenance Operations, PLC Programming and Troubleshooting, Industrial Motors and Motor Control, and Power Distribution Systems. That course mix signals exactly what employers are buying at the entry level: not abstract IT knowledge, but a blend of safety, electrical, mechanical, and controls fundamentals.

Registered apprenticeship gives another entry route. Apprenticeship.gov describes it as paid work experience with a mentor, progressive wage increases, and classroom instruction. For workers who do not arrive with a full résumé of site experience, that model matters because it ties pay progression to verified skill growth rather than to guesswork. For employers, it is a way to build loyalty while teaching site-specific procedures.

Why this matters for retention

Data center workforce problems are often described as shortage problems, but the source evidence suggests a more practical explanation: mismatch. A site that hires for the wrong phase will struggle even if the local labor pool is strong. A team that never documents its handoff will create turnover risk even if pay is competitive. And a company that treats facilities jobs, controls jobs, and IT jobs as one category will confuse both applicants and supervisors.

The better approach is to define the stage, define the authority boundary, and define the proof required to move from one phase to the next. That is the real workforce-management lesson hiding inside modern data centers.

If you are an employer mapping a role, or an applicant deciding where your experience fits, start with the stage first. Review the employer information page or the job seeker page, then match the work to the phase before you match it to a title. If you prefer, you can also call 218-WorkNow or email the office.