DataX Connect: New Survey Finds Growing Pay and Gender Disparity as Talent Priorities Shift within the Data Centre Sector

• The new 2026 Data Centre Salary Survey by DataX Connect reveals nearly 40% of data centre professionals in Europe and the US plan to change jobs within a year
• 41.7% of European respondents worked in energy or in semiconductor and pharmaceutical roles before entering data centres, and in the US, 36.9% came from energy or military backgrounds.
• 46.4% of women surveyed in Europe said their gender had affected their compensation or career progression negatively, compared with 1.7% of men

SOUTHAMPTON, England, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- DataX Connect, the world's leading, global data centre recruitment specialist, has today released the results of its 2026 Data Centre Salary Survey, drawing on insights from 1,700+ data centre professionals across the UK, Europe and the United States.

The findings reveal a highly mobile talent market, where competitive pay remains one of the most important considerations, but career development, benefits and progression are increasingly shaping people's decisions to stay or move.

The research also identifies a growing disparity between genders, with more than 46% of women surveyed in Europe stating their gender had affected their compensation or career progression negatively. Almost four in ten professionals in permanent roles in both Europe and the US plan to change companies in the next 12 months, despite 65% of European and 71% of US respondents receiving a salary increase over the past year. In Europe, career development is now the single biggest reason for moving; in the US, salary still leads, with career development close behind. Pay is opening doors, but it is no longer keeping them shut.

Key findings include:

• Pay rises don't guarantee retention: 38.8% of permanent professionals in Europe and 37.8% in the US plan to change companies in the next 12 months. In Europe, career development is the biggest reason for considering a move, cited by 36.0%, while in the US salary leads at 31.4%, closely followed by career development at 29.5%.
• Nearly half of women say their gender has affected their pay or career progression, and for 97% of them, the impact was negative. The issue is even more pronounced regionally, with 46.4% of women in Europe and 51.4% in the US saying gender has affected their compensation or career progression, compared with just 1.7% and 2.2% of men respectively.
• New talent could be closer than we think: 41.7% of European respondents worked in energy or semiconductor/pharmaceutical roles before entering data centres. In the US, 36.9% came from energy or military backgrounds. For employers struggling to find experienced people, adjacent industries offer an important pool of transferable skills.
• The right benefits depend on where you're hiring: In Europe, shares, stocks or equity are the most requested additional benefit, selected by 30.3% of respondents. In the US, car or fuel allowance tops the list at 38.1%, showing why a one-size-fits-all approach to compensation may miss what people actually value in different markets.

Looking ahead

The findings of the DataX Connect 2026 Salary Survey show an industry with significant opportunities for both employers and professionals, but also a talent market that is becoming more nuanced with more requests for competitive benefits such as shares, and clear career progression.

Salaries, for example, still matter, but businesses that understand what people value, why those values are important to them, and those that create clearer routes for progression and look beyond traditional data centre backgrounds will be better placed to find and retain the skills they need.

"The biggest takeaway from this year's Salary Survey is that there isn't one simple answer to the talent challenge. Pay is important, but so is career progression, the benefits people value and, increasingly, where the skills we need actually exist," said Andy Davis, Director, DataX Connect and Data eXec, and host of the Inside Data Centre Podcast. "The challenge now is turning that insight into better decisions around where we recruit, how we attract people and how we retain them. Nearly half of women in our survey say their gender has affected their pay or career progression, and one of the clearest drivers is the lack of visible female role models in senior data centre roles. If people can't see a path for themselves, they're far less likely to stick around and carve one out. Closing that gap, and the gender pay gap alongside it, is vital to the future of this industry."

The full 2026 Data Centre Salary Survey reports for Europe and the United States are available for download from the DataX Connect website.

About DataX Connect

DataX Connect is a specialist recruitment consultancy focused exclusively on the data centre sector. With deep networks across Europe and the United States, DataX Connect places permanent and contract professionals across the full range of data centre roles across construction and operations.