Our client is an American Data Centre developer with locations in the US, Europe, and Asia. We’ve been working with the client since they entered the APAC market in 2021. Due to the client’s rapid expansion in the region and the increasing demand for specialised technical and operational skill data centre sets, they sought our support to develop an effective hiring strategy.
The Challenge
Data Centre construction is a significant growth market where quality candidates come at a premium. This challenge is exacerbated by several factors:
- The Data Centre market in APAC is not as mature as in Europe or the US, which means that clients can face challenges when hiring local talent. When primarily relying on the local talent pool, clients may need to engage more experienced expatriates to facilitate in-house training for the local teams which can be costly. The training can take time and put considerable pressure on project timelines.
- Often it is the client’s HR team which is driving the hiring process and job roles are highly technical and specialised – the needs of the role may not be fully understood to effectively leverage the search effort.
- Talent attraction is challenging; the competition is fierce, candidates can expect large compensation packages and it is not uncommon for companies to issue strong counter-offers to retain good staff.
The Solution
NES Fircroft has a strong presence in Hong Kong—one of the key hubs for data centre construction—whilst also being able to leverage the capabilities of our extensive global office network, which ensured we could deliver deep expertise across construction and technical engineering disciplines.
Drawing on decades of recruitment experience, we understood precisely which skill sets were critical for success in complex technical environments. Through rigorous screening processes, we assessed candidates beyond their CVs, gaining a clearer picture of their hands-on experience and suitability. A dedicated team was mobilised to search the local market, applying proven methodologies to build targeted shortlists of qualified candidates.
These shortlists were presented to key decision-makers, accompanied by insights that helped the client recognise the value of transferable skills. We highlighted candidates from sectors such as pharmaceuticals, clean room manufacturing, hospitals, and airports—industries that expose professionals to similar systems, plants, and machinery found in data centres. This demonstrated their familiarity with multi-redundancy facilities and operational complexity, making them strong contenders for the roles in question.
The Results
Our discipline specific consultants outperformed the clients internal TA team and helped fill a role they have been struggling to source for some time.
We initially submitted six candidates, and all of them were of such high quality that they made it through to the second stage, leading to the successful placement of a Regional EHS Director on a permanent basis.
The client consequently opened other roles to us, including:
- Construction Project Manager (Japan)
- Principle Automation Manager
- Regional IT Network Systems Manager (Taiwan)