As is customary every September, I write my editorial on our annual Top 50 Electrical Contractors survey results, looking for trends that tie the data to what’s happening in the industry. Last year, I wrote about a “year of record revenues and rising risks” for the key players in electrical contracting, who collectively brought in $59.5 billion in 2024 revenue, which was a 15% jump from the year before. So much for that record. As a group, the 2026 Top 50 smashed that record, reporting $80.4 billion in electrical revenue earned in 2025 — a whopping 35% increase from last year’s total. What’s driving this phenomenal growth? Data center construction, for starters.
Snagging the spot as the “hottest market” for the past nine years, data center work is certainly driving this train. Not surprisingly, 91% of Top 50 respondents selected data centers as one of their top three markets this year, and 92% named data centers as the electrification segment currently generating the most activity for their firm. Those results align with a news release from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) distributed on September 1. According to ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu, July’s increase of 0.1% in nonresidential construction spending was “entirely due to data centers.” In eight of the 16 nonresidential subcategories examined, monthly spending was down. “Nonresidential activity is even more concentrated given that the power category, which has been boosted by the electricity needs of data centers, has also grown substantially over the past year,” said Basu. “While contractors remain upbeat about their sales over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, that upbeat outlook is increasingly dependent on a single sector.”
This year’s Top 50 results certainly reiterate how powerful this sector has become. However, they also reveal an interesting challenge: How do you capitalize on record opportunity in the data center space while dealing with the ongoing labor conundrum? Despite this extraordinary growth, 83% of Top 50 respondents said they are having issues with labor shortages at this time, up from 74% last year. When asked which factor was having the most negative impact on the growth of their business, 64% identified “difficulty finding and retaining quality employees” as their biggest nemesis.
Without a doubt, the data center construction boom means electrical contractors are fiercely competing for an already limited pool of electrical professionals, a challenge that hiring alone can’t seem to solve. That’s where productivity comes in. That’s the motivation behind one of EC&M’s new e-books, “The Human Side of Job-Site Productivity,” which will be available on our website toward the end of September. This compilation of articles looks beyond technology to successful labor management principles, effective communication strategies, and organizational methods that allow electrical professionals to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently.
Last year, I questioned whether it was feasible for the Top 50 to keep their growth streak alive. This year, I got my answer. Now the question becomes: How do they manage that success and keep up this unprecedented pace, all while being squeezed by the skilled labor shortage? I’m sure next year we’ll be talking about how this group of key industry players harnessed the power of AI to boost productivity and work smarter, not harder. However, I also know that skilled people remain our industry’s most valuable resource. The contractors who master this productivity puzzle will inevitably turn today’s record opportunity into tomorrow’s growth.
