DataX Connect salary survey finds data centre pay gaps
Author: Joe Peck
UK data centre recruitment company DataX Connect has released the results of its 2026 Data Centre Salary Survey, drawing on responses from more than 1,700 data centre professionals across the UK, Europe, and the USA.
The findings indicate a mobile talent market in which salary remains an important consideration, whilst career development, benefits, and progression are increasingly influencing decisions to stay with an employer or move elsewhere.
The research also proposes a gender disparity, with more than 46% of women surveyed in Europe saying their gender had negatively affected their compensation or career progression.
Almost four in 10 professionals in permanent roles in both Europe and the USA 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 the biggest reason for considering a move, while salary remains the leading factor in the USA, with career development close behind.
Key findings include:
• Pay rises do not guarantee retention: 38.8% of permanent professionals in Europe and 37.8% in the USA 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% of respondents, while in the USA salary leads at 31.4%, followed by career development at 29.5%.
• Gender continues to affect pay and progression: Nearly half of women surveyed say their gender has affected their pay or career progression, with 97% of those reporting a negative impact. The figure is 46.4% among women in Europe and 51.4% in the USA, compared with 1.7% of men in Europe and 2.2% in the USA.
• Adjacent industries provide a potential talent pool: 41.7% of European respondents worked in energy or semiconductor/pharmaceutical roles before entering the data centre sector. In the USA, 36.9% came from energy or military backgrounds.
• Benefit preferences vary by region: Shares, stocks, or equity are the most requested additional benefit in Europe, selected by 30.3% of respondents. In the USA, car or fuel allowance is the most requested (at 38.1%).
Career development emerges as a key factor
The findings of the 2026 Salary Survey point to opportunities for employers and professionals, whilst also highlighting changing expectations around benefits, career progression, and recruitment.
Salary remains an important factor, but the survey indicates that employers may need to consider what employees value beyond pay, while also creating clearer routes for progression and looking beyond traditional data centre backgrounds when recruiting.
Andy Davis, Director at DataX Connect and Data eXec, and host of the Inside Data Centre Podcast, comments, “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.
“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 USA are available from the DataX Connect website.
For more from DataX Connect, click here.
