Energy sector employers are navigating a demand surge unlike anything the industry has seen in a generation. Capital is flowing, and infrastructure is being built, but the workforce conversation has centered almost entirely on construction trades.
The critical, less-examined challenge is sourcing the operational and digital technical workforce required to run, secure, and modernize that infrastructure once it goes live.
An unprecedented buildout
The energy sector is experiencing a generational shift. AI-powered data centers are driving ever-increasing electricity demand, and the strain on the grid will only get worse. According to a recent report from the Electric Power Research Institute, U.S. data centers could consume as much as 17% of national electricity by 2030. That's up from around 4-5% today.
To keep up with demand, energy companies are responding with one of the largest capital buildouts in industry history. Edison Electric Institute (EEI) members are expected to invest more than $1.1 trillion in the grid between 2025 and 2029. This is a huge increase from the record $178.2 billion invested in 2024.
The unseen workforce gap
The more pressing and less-discussed challenge is who will run what gets built. Energy and utilities employers are currently among the most talent-strained sectors globally. According to a 2025 report from ManpowerGroup, 74% of employers in the sector report talent shortages, with IT and data skills remaining the most challenging to find.
Inside utility companies, digital roles are among the fastest-growing job categories. The Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) notes that emerging technology jobs, such as those specializing in artificial intelligence and advanced metering, quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. However, they still represent only 2.6% of the overall energy workforce.
When utilities cannot find digital talent through traditional pipelines, they pull from adjacent industries. Nearly half of energy companies recruit from neighboring industries or train current hires to close gaps, but this can often lead to a skills mismatch. This strategy redistributes a limited talent pool rather than growing it.
The cybersecurity gap inside the grid
As energy infrastructure becomes more digitally connected, through smart meters, remote monitoring, and grid automation, the security risk grows alongside it. Managing that risk requires trained people, and right now, most energy employers do not have enough of them.
The scale of the threat is significant. Cybersecurity firm Dragos documented 1,693 ransomware incidents targeting industrial organizations in 2024, an 87% increase over the prior year. Of all the events they responded to, 75% resulted in a partial shutdown of operational technology, while 25% caused a full shutdown.
Hiring has not responded to the threat. Online job postings for cybersecurity roles in the U.S. power utility sector haven't risen since 2018, despite a steady increase in attacks.
The result is a sector that is chronically underprepared, with only 20% of electric utility companies reporting confidence in having enough cybersecurity talent.
What understaffed operations look like in practice
Overall, data center outage frequency has declined for four consecutive years, which reflects genuine progress in reliability management. But within that improving picture, one category of risk is moving in the wrong direction. Outages tied to human error in understaffed or undertrained operational environments are rising, and the pattern is consistent enough to be instructive for any energy employer operating or serving critical digital infrastructure.
Nearly two-thirds of data center operators report difficulty finding qualified candidates, retaining staff, or both, according to Uptime Institute's 2025 Global Data Center Survey. Nearly 40% of organizations have experienced a major outage linked to human error over the past three years. Of those incidents, 85% stem from staff failing to follow procedures or from flaws in the processes and procedures themselves. Uptime's research notes that the rise may be a consequence of rapid industry growth and the resulting staff shortages in many regions.
The takeaway for energy employers is not that data centers are failing. It's when operational teams are stretched thin that the consequences show up in reliability, and training is one of the most direct levers available.
Per Scholas addresses the operational workforce gap
The operational and digital workforce gap in the energy sector will not be closed by the pipelines built for construction trades. The roles at the center of this challenge require purpose-built training that is faster than traditional apprenticeships and aligned with how energy employers actually operate.
Per Scholas partners with energy, utility, and critical infrastructure employers through the Power Up Initiative, a national effort connecting trained technologists with the sectors that need them most. Per Scholas trains for the exact roles energy employers are struggling to fill, including cybersecurity analysts, network technicians, critical facility operators, and building automation specialists.
Within our Critical Infrastructure and Skilled Trades domain, training is mapped directly to real operational workflows. Employers using these pipelines report retention rates 30-50% higher than those from traditional hiring channels. All programs are instructor-led and include embedded professional development, ensuring graduates are equipped with both the technical capabilities and the operational discipline required in high-stakes environments. Furthermore, alumni receive two years of continued upskilling and access to certification at no cost, allowing them to adapt alongside the grid.
Energy and utility employers navigating this gap can start with a 30-minute working session with Per Scholas Tech Talent Solutions to map priority roles, explore pipeline options, and build a partnership aligned with their organizational needs.