NECA is working to protect our electrical workforce and apprentice training

Investment is accelerating across the country, particularly in NSW and Victoria, with further development emerging nationally. The scale can already be seen in NSW, where 15 data centre projects worth $51.9 billion are progressing, on top of around 90 data centres already operating across the state. Data centre investment in NSW has grown by an average of 65 per cent a year over the past three years and now represents around 12 per cent of all non-residential building investment.
 
Nationally, AEMO reports 162 operational data centres, with electricity consumption forecast to rise from around 2 per cent of grid-supplied electricity today to around 6 per cent by 2030.
 
This represents an enormous opportunity for electrical contractors across Australia. Still, it will also place significant additional pressure on an electrical workforce that is already in shortage, and on the contractors who have invested in employing and training the apprentices who will become our future electricians and seeing them leave for for DATA centre work.
 
NECA supports data centre investment. We want these projects built in Australia, and we want Australian electrical contractors, electricians and apprentices to benefit.
 
But simply recruiting electricians and experienced apprentices away from existing contractors does not grow Australia's workforce. It moves the shortage from one part of our industry, and potentially one part of the country, to another.
 
This is particularly concerning for small and medium contractors who invest heavily in recruiting, supervising and training first-year apprentices, only to risk losing them to major projects once they become more experienced.
 
There is also a training quality issue. Data centres can provide outstanding technical experience, but apprentices need broad exposure to different types of electrical work to develop into well-rounded electricians.
 
 NECA is working with State and Federal Governments to address the issue and get more electricians trained and recruited. 

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