As smart buildings become even more complex, the need for upskilled electricians and other skilled trade workers continue to increase—and facility managers are getting into the workforce development act, according to JLL’s April 2026 report, “Building tomorrow’s workforce today.”

“At 96 billion square feet across six million buildings, the U.S. commercial real estate market generates enormous and ever-expanding demand for skilled trades talent across the full lifecycle of construction, operations and redevelopment,” according to the report. “With 53% of the building stock delivered before 1990, the imperative to modernize aging assets—and the skilled trades workforce that supports the functionality, adaptability and longevity of the built environment— has never been greater.”

For artificial intelligence (A.I.) data center expansion, the need for electricians is especially heightened, according to JLL. The report cites U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, stating that electrician employment is expected to expand 9.5% over the next decade, triple the 3.1% average for all occupations. That means an estimated 81,000 electrician job openings per year, due to increased demand and workers retiring or changing careers.

While there’s been a shortage of people entering the trades for decades, JLL contends “the pendulum may be swinging back” to the trades as college tuition costs skyrocket even more, turning off young people who do not want to take on significant debt to pay for it.

“Appreciation is growing among young Americans for the multitude of routes to a fulfilling career with family-sustaining wages,” the report states. “According to a recent survey of 3,000+ students, teens considering apprenticeships, vocational schools and technical bootcamp programs more than tripled from 12% in 2018 to 38% in 2024, signaling a generational shift in career expectations.”

Facility managers and other commercial real estate operators, as well as the contractors involved in the life cycle of their buildings, are joining the growing workforce development momentum. They are zeroing in on the need to upskill, as the increasing sophistication of smart buildings—complete with IoT platforms, automated building management systems, real-time sensors and performance analytics—demands skilled trades workers to expand their core capabilities and digital fluency.

More CRE operators should seize the opportunity to move beyond passive recruitment to become “the operational center of talent development,” as they are the entities that directly manage buildings and deploy skilled trades teams across diverse portfolios at scale, according to the report. They will succeed if they

combine internal actions with strategic external partnerships across the talent network. “A mobilizing ecosystem creates a defining window for CRE operators, services firms and contractors,” the report states. “Workforce orchestrators that translate this momentum into immediate organizational action will secure competitive advantages in cost control, service quality and facility resilience.”

If they delay action, they’ll likely lose out on the talent war and face escalating labor premiums, operational disruptions and deepening talent shortages as competition intensifies.

“The path forward is both a business imperative and a strategic obligation,” JLL wrote.