Data centre hiring surges across Europe, led by Spain, Italy and Ireland

Job postings for data centre positions have climbed well above pre-pandemic levels in ten European economies, even as other technology roles struggle to recover, according to data from Indeed. The growth is most pronounced in Spain, Italy and Ireland, where postings have more than doubled compared with the December 2019–February 2020 average.

Using an index where that pre-pandemic period equals 100, Spain reached 260, Italy 237 and Ireland 210 as of August 2026. The Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland each recorded increases of more than 30%, while Belgium saw the smallest rise at 9%. France and Germany posted gains of 13% and 25% respectively, and the UK was up 24%.

Aubrey Woessner, an economist at Indeed, and Pawel Adrjan, the company’s director of research, noted that Spain and Italy began from a low base, leaving more room for expansion. They pointed to major new AI-focused build-outs, such as campuses in Aragón and projects around Milan, rather than legacy sites clustered around major population hubs like Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin.

Wide gap with other tech roles

Excluding data centre jobs, tech postings were below pre-pandemic levels in nine of the ten countries analysed. Spain was the only exception, with an index one point above the baseline. The gap between data centre postings and other tech postings was widest in Italy at 173 points, followed by Spain at 159 and Ireland at 141.

While just ten big tech companies account for 71% of data centre postings in the United States, the European market is far more fragmented. The two economists observed that across the ten European countries studied, it takes over 500 firms to account for 70% of data centre postings.

Higher pay and skills demand

Advertised salaries for data centre roles are generally higher than for comparable jobs in other sectors within the same country. A pay premium was found in 28 of 29 country-occupation pairs, with the only exception being a 1% deficit for IT infrastructure, operations and support roles in France. In Italy, management roles in data centres pay 65% more, and installation and maintenance roles 50% more. In the UK, management roles command a 49% premium, while in Germany installation and maintenance roles pay 36% more.

Woessner and Adrjan said the higher pay helps attract workers quickly to keep projects on schedule. They also noted that data centre roles ask for more skills on average than other postings in the same field, with concrete technical and digital skills—including knowledge of IT systems, software and cybersecurity—as well as English language requirements being over-represented.

Data centre roles remain a small slice of total job postings, around 1% or less in most countries. Ireland is the exception, where nearly 5% of all Indeed job postings mention data centres. The economists expect the growth phase to continue, as the EU aims to triple data centre capacity within five to seven years. However, they caution that data centres are competing for workers with technical skills already in short supply before the current boom.

As of 2025, Germany and the UK had the highest numbers of data centres in Europe, with 529 and 523 respectively. France followed with 322 and the Netherlands with 298. Italy had 168, Spain and Poland each had 144, and Switzerland 121. Western Europe dominates the region’s data centre infrastructure, while Northern Europe has a smaller but strategically important presence. Central and Eastern Europe’s infrastructure is more fragmented and less developed.