Where the data centre jobs are

What was counted. On 24 October 2026, Facility Labs read the open roles at 107 employers that posted data centre operations work: 38 in the United States, 14 in Australia and 55 across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Each was read from the employer's own job system, or from its careers site. The map covers these employers, not the whole market. Job boards such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor and SEEK were not collected.

Scope. The count covers operations work at or for a data centre:

• facilities: electrical, mechanical and cooling, controls and BMS, and multi-skilled;
• data centre technicians and remote hands;
• network deployment and systems;
• cyber and OT security;
• logistics and assets;
• physical security;
• commissioning;
• environment, health and safety;
• operations centres;
• the management of these.

Construction, design, sales and corporate roles were left out: 6,143 postings were counted as out of scope and set aside.

Ads or requisitions. Each row is one posting at one place, and a posting that lists several places counts once at each. Some employers post one requisition per head, so the same ad repeats: one employer posted about half of the United States' requisitions. Distinct ads, the map's default, counts each employer's ad once per title and place: 4,949 in all, of which 3,827 are in the United States, 184 in Australia and 938 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Requisitions counts every one: 7,118 in all (5,862, 224 and 1,032).

Framework levels. Each title is matched by rule to a role type and a level of the FacilityVR reference framework's ladder:

• 0 Trainee
• 1 Operator
• 2 Technician
• 3 Senior or specialist
• 4 Lead, and professional engineers
• 5 Supervisor or chief
• 6 Manager
• D Director and above

Where an employer uses its own grades (Roman numerals, operator grades or pay bands), they are mapped to the ladder by rule, and entry technician programmes are level 1. Network, systems, cyber, commissioning, safety and assurance engineers start at level 4, as do degreed facility engineers.

Confidence. The rules are heuristics. A third of the rows (2,367) rest on an explicit grade or keyword, and two thirds (4,714) on the title's wording. 37 rows (0.5%) are unclassified, mostly trainers and technical writers, and 32 have no level.

Places. 6,909 rows name a city. A row that names only a state or a country sits at a state-wide or country-wide point, the average of that area's other rows: 47 state-wide and 46 country-wide. 17 rows in South Africa that name only a province sit at the province's main city. 99 rows name no place (remote, or several places) and count in the totals but not on the map.

Gaps. Some employers couldn't be read: their systems blocked automated reading or were unreachable, posted only on LinkedIn, or needed a sign-in. Several Australian operators listed no vacancies on the day. FM providers were read by keyword search, and postings that name no site were left out. A one-day snapshot also misses roles filled through agencies and internal moves.

Who made it. Facility Labs, a workforce development researcher, produced the snapshot. Employers are counted, never named, and no ad's text is kept.