Data centres emerge as India's new job engine

The data centre ecosystem appears poised to deliver significant job creation in the coming years, despite concerns raised on the ground over employment projections, according to hiring platforms and industry executives.

At a time when Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have cooled their hiring spree and shifted towards a hybrid operating model, data centres are expected to ramp up recruitment across blue, grey, and white-collar roles.

"The data centre industry is becoming a meaningful employment engine in India, but there is an important distinction between jobs within data centres and those created across the broader ecosystem. Employment needs are not limited to IT professionals. The sector also requires talent in construction, equipment maintenance, power, cooling, telecom and fibre networks, security, facility management, logistics, and specialised contracting," said Ganesh S. Padmanabhan, Vice-President, Recruitment Business, CIEL HR. He estimates the sector could generate 1-2 lakh employment opportunities over the next four to six years.