How do we solve the workforce crisis? Hiring and training thousands of military veterans

In the race to get ready for service, every operator and customer conversation comes back to the question, ‘Can you build the team?

When recruiting at pace, the challenge is not simply recruiting more people. It is rethinking where we look for talent in the first place.

In my role in leading talent strategy across the globe, I see first-hand that the workforce challenge facing our industry is no longer simply about recruitment. It is about workforce mobilisation.

As this industry knows well, finding experienced engineers is difficult enough. Building an operational workforce at speed, across multiple countries, while maintaining quality, culture and long-term retention is something else entirely.

That challenge has become even more urgent as AI accelerates investment in digital infrastructure. Every new facility needs experienced leaders, technicians, engineers and future managers. Competition for that talent has never been greater. In my view, the question is no longer where the next data centre will be built. It is where the people will come from.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that the solution is simply to recruit more people who already work in data centres. The reality is that we need to think much more broadly about capability. Some of the best people we hire have never worked in a data centre before. They come from telecommunications, utilities, industrial maintenance, manufacturing and, importantly, the military community. They arrive with technical discipline, an understanding of safety-critical environments and the ability to perform under pressure. What they need is a structured pathway into our industry.

Military veterans have always represented one of the strongest examples of this approach. Every year across the UK and Europe, thousands of highly skilled people leave military service looking for their next career. Many have managed complex technical systems, led teams in demanding environments and developed the resilience and accountability that every critical facility depends upon. Those capabilities transfer exceptionally well into data centre operations.

The challenge is not whether veterans can succeed. The challenge is ensuring they know these opportunities exist, and that employers recognise their potential rather than focusing only on direct industry experience.

At Salute, we have been building those pathways since 2013. Over the past decade, we have learned something important: attracting talented people is only one part of solving the workforce challenge. Retention, training and career development are what keep talented people in our industry and help them build long-term careers.

Military veterans are an important part of that strategy because they demonstrate what is possible when organisations recruit for potential rather than direct industry experience. With the right training, support and career pathways, they bring the leadership, discipline and technical capability our industry needs, not just for today’s operations, but for the future of digital infrastructure.

That’s why, through our Military Community Pathway across EMEA, partnerships that support service leavers, Salute University and specialist programmes such as our Direct-to-Chip (DTC) cooling training, we are developing the technical, operational and leadership skills needed to support the next generation of AI infrastructure.

If you are a veteran looking for your next mission, there has never been a better time to explore a career in digital infrastructure. It is an industry transforming at extraordinary pace, creating opportunities to work with some of the world’s most advanced technologies while building a long-term career where your leadership, technical discipline and experience are valued and can make a real difference.

By: Angela Paterson