Skills, Talent and Diversity updates
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Inspiring the Next Generation of Talent
RED’s Commitment to STEM
The engineering sector is facing a global skills shortage, and the Data Centre industry is feeling the impact acutely. While many companies focus on attracting graduates, the graduate pool will continue to shrink unless we inspire young people much earlier. At RED, we see this as both a responsibility and an opportunity.
STEM subjects are well represented in schools, but engineering often isn’t. That’s why RED invests in outreach initiatives that reflect our values of curiosity, innovation, and long-term thinking. Through our IDEA Employee Resource Group and global network of STEM Ambassadors, we’re working to make engineering visible, accessible, and exciting. In 2025 alone, our ambassadors reached more than 12,000 students, helping young people discover careers in STEM they may never have considered.
Schools & Community Outreach
Our outreach spans classrooms, community events, and hands-on workshops designed to spark curiosity and build confidence. These include:
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Careers fairs help students understand the breadth of engineering roles and the routes into the industry.
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Mock interviews prepare students for their first steps into the world of work.
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Classroom based workshops introduce sustainability, electricity, and engineering design in a practical and engaging way.
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We champion gender equity through events such as Festival of The Girl, STEMFest, and STEM in the Park.
As our reliance on digital infrastructure grows, so does the need for skilled engineers who can design, build, and maintain the Data Centres that power modern life. By engaging with them early on, we help young people understand the industry’s importance and the career opportunities ahead of them.
Graduate Programme & Early Careers
Our two-year graduate programme plays a central role in strengthening the Data Centre talent pipeline. Graduates join dedicated Data Centre teams from day one, contributing to live projects while developing strong technical foundations through hands-on design work, site exposure, specialist software training, structured mentoring, and professional development.
By the end of the programme, graduates transition into engineering roles with the confidence and capability to thrive in a fast growing, technically demanding sector, supporting RED’s long-term growth and the wider industry’s need for skilled engineers.
WiRED & Women in STEM
Inclusion is central to RED’s culture. This is reflected through Women in RED (WiRED), our internal network dedicated to empowering women across the business, and fostering a community of belonging, connection, and growth.
In 2025, WiRED delivered a series of highimpact initiatives, including inspiring more than 1,100 girls at Festival of the Girl in London, engaging 151 engineering students at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and sponsoring SheCanEngineer’s flagship International Women in Engineering Day event.
These activities build on our wider STEM outreach and play a vital role in ensuring women can see themselves in the industry. RED also delivers companyled commitments such as our Social Value drive, inclusive employment goals, transparent pay gap reporting, and People Development work to enhance DEI visibility through diversified communications.
RED’s Vision for STEM in 2026
RED’s STEM team continues to grow, creating new opportunities to engage more students while strengthening support for the schools and organisations we partner with.
Through our workshops, we introduce young people to the wide range of careers within the Data Centre industry, inspiring future talent to explore pathways in construction, technology, and engineering. Last year, our STEM programme reached nearly 12,000 students, giving them practical insight into how engineering shapes the world around them.
~ Diana Kenny, Senior Mechanical Engineer and Global STEM Lead at RED Engineering Design
Find out more
Find out more about opportunities and initiatives at RED by exploring our careers and learning about our STEM and WiRED initiatives through RED’s IDEA group.
About the campaign
techUK’s TechTogether campaign continues with a focus on ‘Evolving Online Safety'. Our insights this week focus on ensuring AI systems are designed, governed and deployed responsibly, with diverse perspectives shaping how technology impacts society, strengthening cyber defences and reducing vulnerabilities as organisations adopt new technologies and expand digital services, and addressing workplace culture, leadership and systemic barriers to ensure diverse voices shape the future of technology.
TechTogether week 4
Other opportunities to get involved:
Other related insights:
Authors
Diana Kenny
Diana Kenny, Senior Mechanical Engineer and Global STEM Lead at RED Engineering Design, explores how STEM outreach is shaping the future talent pipeline for the Data Centre industry.
