Open AI Hiring Surge Shows the Need for Data Center Talent

Technology infrastructure employment continues to boom.   We shared recently that while software hiring is in a down cycle as companies evaluate how artificial intelligence (AI) resources will impact their need for programmers, data center hiring continues to ramp up.   

AI’s heavy infrastructure requirements have created fierce competition for people with the expertise to manage and operate AI data centers and the technologies within them.  On April 13th chief executive officer Sam Altman tweeted a call for help, writing:

"If you are interested in infrastructure and very large-scale computing systems, the scale of what's happening at OpenAI right now is insane and we have very hard/interesting challenges. Please consider joining us! We could desperately use your help."  

Open AI’s hundreds of job listings are just one more manifestation of the growth of data center infrastructure demand and the associated need for talent.  Just as the AI boom has created disruption in the markets for data center space, electrical power, and water resources, it appears that we can anticipate similar strains in the IT human resources realm. 

If you’re a mid-career technologist looking to make a pivot or a student considering embarking on a career in IT, the infrastructure needed for the AI boom provides a slightly different path than the software world.   But the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in laying the foundation for our AI-centric future offers plenty of opportunity.