Data centers: they’re noisy, use up multiple megawatts of power, and are bad for the environment. Yet they’re the backbone of modern life: from Google Drive uploads to file sharing over Zoom calls. And if you’re in the Dallas job market, you’ve heard reports that these centers are creating hundreds of thousands of local jobs.
But what’s real and what’s just hype? Does the rapid growth of data center jobs mean a bunch of people are flocking from traditional IT jobs to work in windowless eyesores? Are traditional tech jobs—the ones you’re hiring for—at risk of a major reshuffle?
Short answer: there’s a more nuanced reality behind those numbers, and one that’s good news for tech employers in the Dallas area. In fact, if you’re in the Dallas IT ecosystem, get ready for a major hiring boom.
Dallas’s Data Center Job Boom: A Reality Check
Back in 2023, a report from the Data Center Coalition reported that data centers in Texas “supported” over 485,000 new jobs. That sounds like a big splash, until you dig a little deeper into the data. Out of those jobs, only 61,000 represent direct employment. The rest are the ripple effect—each person working in a data center represents 6.5 jobs elsewhere in the local IT ecosystem.
Given projections that the Dallas data center market is going to double by 2026, what exactly does this mean for IT employers? For starters, there’s going to be an explosion in the roles needed to support these data centers, such as cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity roles (more on that below).
On top of that, the energy needed to power these facilities is extensive. By 2030, data centers are projected to consume 9-10% of Texas’s total electrical capacity, while also expanding that capacity by 65K megawatts. Every megawatt of new energy capacity requires IT professionals to manage it, increasing demand for IT solutions like grid optimization software, energy management systems, smart infrastructure monitoring, and more.
Finally, as these data centers expand, local businesses will have increased access to data and IT services, including reduced latency, more dependable and personal support, and more predictable and transparent pricing. Every Dallas-based company that wants to leverage this new infrastructure will require experienced IT professionals to help them do so.
Where Are the Real Opportunities in the Midst of Dallas’s Boom?
Yes, some people will find employment working in data centers. But these represent a fraction of the opportunities the area will experience. Here’s where the real action is happening.
1. Cloud Infrastructure Roles
As cloud service providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google expand their presence in Dallas, the demand for cloud infrastructure roles has expanded with it. This includes:
- Cloud architects designing enterprise solutions
- Solutions architects bridging business needs and technical capabilities
- DevOps engineers managing automated deployments and scaling
- Site reliability engineers working to maintain 99.9% uptime
These roles command premium salaries ($150-200K per year) and are in critically short supply. Which means supplying these critical roles is only going to get more difficult, not less. As you plan out your workforce over the next 18-24 months, it makes sense to work to attract this top talent sooner rather than later.
2. The Enterprise IT Explosion
The growth in local data centers and the operational efficiency, quality of service, and improved connectivity that comes with it has resulted in an enterprise IT explosion. This explosion not only is pushing local companies to shift from on-prem hardware to cloud and colocation models, but it’s also resulted in an influx of corporate migrations to the Dallas metro area.
Every Dallas-based company that wants to leverage this infrastructure needs internal expertise to realize these efforts:
- Cloud migration specialists to move legacy systems
- Data engineers to manage massive processing capabilities
- Integration specialists connecting old systems to new infrastructure
From what I’m hearing on the ground, companies are already building out these teams. Which means if you’re taking a “wait and see” approach, you’re already behind the eight-ball.
3. Cybersecurity & Compliance
The number of annual cybersecurity incidents continues to rise, costing tens of millions of dollars across the country. Large data volumes and critical IT infrastructure mean a bigger target for nefarious actors. So with the growth of data centers and broader IT infrastructure in Dallas comes a greater risk of cybersecurity attacks.
As such, local businesses are investing in advanced encryption, AI-driven threat detection, and robust disaster recovery solutions to protect against breaches and downtime. With facilities like Irving’s new Edged Dallas coming online, the demand for security architects and compliance specialists has never been more urgent.
Salaries for these roles range from $110-200K per year, depending on the specialty and experience level involved. And as the risk of cybersecurity breaches increases over the next few years, the demand for those roles will only increase.
4. Energy Infrastructure
I mentioned above how the Dallas data center boom has significant implications for energy infrastructure. These facilities are highly energy-intensive, increasing the demands on an already taxed power grid. As such, companies are deploying grid optimization software, energy management systems, and smart infrastructure monitoring to meet these demands.
Each of these initiatives, however, requires IT professionals to manage them:
- Grid optimization specialists leverage AI and advanced analytics to increase grid efficiency and sustainability
- Smart grid engineers integrate renewable energy, advanced metering, and automation systems into existing grids
- Emergency Management System (EMS) developers build and maintain software for EMS platforms, which manage core grid functions
- Systems integration specialists ensure seamless data flow and process automation across platforms
What This Means for Dallas Employers
Bottom line: the rapid growth of IT infrastructure is fueling a talent war, as this infrastructure is growing faster than the workforce needed to support it. This extends far beyond the roles needed to operate data centers.
Strategic hiring in Dallas in 2025 requires employers to focus on roles that leverage data center capabilities. Companies that are building these teams right now will dominate their markets, especially among skills and expertise that are critically short.
If you don’t want to fall behind your competitors, now is the time to act. With deep inroads in the Dallas IT talent community, Concero can help find hard-to-fill, in-demand roles quickly.
Let’s chat—I’d love to find out more about your challenges and goals as you navigate the Dallas tech scene.
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