What Ireland’s cautionary tale on data centres can teach Australia

In Ireland, nearly 5% of job postings on Indeed now mention data centres, a figure that is roughly double the share seen between 2019 and 2025 and the highest among ten European countries analysed by the platform. This trend is driven by higher pay for data centre roles compared to similar occupations elsewhere, with the largest premiums generally seen among workers directly involved in installation and maintenance tasks at data centre sites, according to Indeed's research.

Indeed's Senior Director of Economic Research for EMEA and APAC, Pawel Adrjan, noted that data centre hiring is one of the rare growth areas within tech-adjacent hiring despite wider tech job markets facing pressures. Ireland stands out notably, with nearly 5% of job listings now referencing data centres, more than double the recent average.

The lifting of a moratorium on new data centre connections in December last year, permitting buildings that meet at least 80% of their annual energy needs through renewable sources, has likely contributed to this surge. In June, the Irish government published a €100,000 report commissioned to endorse data centres, highlighting that they have contributed €22 billion to the Irish economy since 2010, added 17,000 jobs, and generated €2.8 billion in tax revenue.

However, environmental concerns have been raised about the substantial energy consumption of data centres. In 2025, data centres accounted for 23% of total metered electricity consumption, up from 22% in 2024 and just 5% in 2015. Experts estimate that by 2030, data centres could consume nearly a third of national electricity demand.