Job boards are too slow
A commissioning window opens and closes in weeks. Posting an ad and waiting for applicants loses the job.
Labour is the bottleneck to AI infrastructure — the US alone is short 400,000 electricians
Get poachd.
On your terms.
Poachd is the workforce operating system for the AI infrastructure economy — data centres, GPU compute, high voltage, substations, BESS and mission critical facilities. Build a live capability profile in under a minute. Contractors come to you. No resumes, no recruiters taking a cut.
- 58s
- Median time to a live profile
- 0
- Resumes required
- 100%
- Free for tradespeople
- 24/7
- AI matching engine
Hyperscale data centresSolar farmsBESS commissioning11kV switchingFIFO shutdownsUPS & switchboardsPLC & SCADAGrid connectionTunnel & rail tractionHyperscale data centresSolar farmsBESS commissioning11kV switchingFIFO shutdownsUPS & switchboardsPLC & SCADAGrid connectionTunnel & rail traction
The shortage
Recruitment was built for office jobs.
Not for the grid.
Data centre sparkies are being poached three and four times a year. The good ones never apply for anything — they get tapped on the shoulder. Poachd turns that shoulder tap into a market.
Licences are unverifiable
Contractors can't tell a real HV switching ticket from a line on a CV until someone is already on site.
Keywords miss talent
A mining shutdown sparky is often the best data centre hire alive. Keyword search will never find them.
How it works
Everything that matters happens in under a minute.
01
Sign up in one tap
Continue with Google or Apple, or scan your trade licence and let Poachd's AI read your details straight off the card.
02
Tap your capabilities
No typing paragraphs. Tap the skills, tickets and rosters you'll work. Poachd turns them into a live capability profile and an AI Skills Score.
03
Swipe both ways
Contractors swipe on capability, you swipe on the work. Nobody sees a match until both sides say yes, so browsing costs you nothing.
04
Talk and get underway
A match opens a direct line. Rate, roster and start date up front — the awkward parts are already on the card.
For tradespeople
Free, forever. And nobody sees you unless you want them to.
Set yourself to actively looking, open to offers, or invisible. Your rate and licence details stay private until you match.
- Get an AI Skills Score that recognises transferable experience — mining HV counts toward data centre HV.
- See exactly what a role pays before you swipe. No 'competitive salary'.
- Your licence is verified once and carries across every contractor on the platform.
- Ask the AI copilot what's holding your rate back, and what ticket to chase next.
DM
Dane M.
Brisbane, QLD · 11 yrs
Verified
94AI Skills
Score
Score
HV Switching 33kV
UPS & Static Switch
Data Centre Fitout
Busway
CBRE
- Rate
- $96/hr
- Available
- 2 wks
- Roster
- FIFO ok
For contractors
Describe the job in plain English. Poachd finds the crew.
Paste the brief you'd send a recruiter. Poachd parses it into required skills, tickets, roster and rate band, then ranks every available tradesperson by semantic fit — not keyword overlap.
Semantic matching
Finds the mining shutdown sparky whose HV experience transfers to your data hall, even though their profile never says 'data centre'.
Match explanations
Every candidate comes with why they fit, what's missing, expected rate and a realistic onboarding estimate.
Verified before contact
Licence and ID checks happen on our side. You see a verification badge, never someone's private documents.
Mutual interest only
Swiping right sends an invite. A match means they want the job too, so your first message is never cold.
Super Swipe for urgency
Commissioning date moved? Push a role straight to the top of the right decks.
Live rate benchmarks
Know what your role should pay in that region this month before you post it.
Industry focus
The sectors building the AI economy.
Every AI model needs data centres. Every data centre needs power. Every electrical upgrade needs skilled workers. Electrical goes live first because the shortage is sharpest there — the taxonomy and matching engine are trade-agnostic.
Hyperscale Data Centres
MEP fitout, white space, commissioning
Live
GPU Compute Facilities
High density racks, liquid cooling
Live
AI Campuses
Multi-building, staged energisation
Live
Cloud Infrastructure
Availability zones, redundancy
Next
Edge Computing
Distributed nodes, fast mobilisation
Next
High Voltage Transmission
132kV–500kV lines, switching
Next
Substations
Primary plant, protection, testing
Next
Battery Energy Storage
Inverters, SCADA, grid forming
Next
Renewable Energy
Solar, wind, grid connection
Next
Utility Infrastructure
Distribution, reticulation
Next
Fibre Networks
Backbone, splicing, landing stations
Next
Mission Critical Facilities
UPS, generators, N+1 uptime
Next
Semiconductor Manufacturing
Cleanroom electrical, tool hook-up
Next
Advanced Manufacturing
Automation, robotics cells
Next
Defence Infrastructure
Cleared works, secure facilities
Next
Workforce intelligence
The labour intelligence layer for AI infrastructure.
Which projects are commencing, which regions are running out of crew, which certifications are gaining value, and how long mobilisation really takes. Contractors, investors and workforce planners see labour availability before a project starts.
HV Electrician · median rate
+14% QoQ
Median
$92/hr
Shortage index
8.4/10
Open roles
1,284
Illustrative view. Live figures build from real platform activity as your market comes online.
Pricing
Tradespeople never pay. Contractors pay per hire — sized to the salary.
No seats. No subscription. No 20% agency invoice on day one. An incremental fee per hire, indexed to the package, then broken into small charges that only keep landing while your person is actually on the tools.
Tradespeople
Free
Always. No placement fee, ever.
- Live capability profile and AI Skills Score
- Unlimited swipes and matches
- Licence verification
- Career copilot and rate benchmarks
Contractors
4.5–9%/hire
Of annualised package, stepping down as salaries climb. Nothing until someone starts.
Up to $100k9.00%
$100k – $150k7.50%
$150k – $220k6.00%
$220k+4.50%
- 20% on start day, then $218-scale weekly charges while engaged
- 30% held against 30/90/180-day retention milestones
- Early exit waives the remaining schedule — churn costs us, not you
- Contract at 70% of tier, casual at 45%
- Minimum $750 per hire, capped at $18,000
Worked example — $96/hr, 50hr week
Annualised value
$220,800
Total per hire
$5,242
The grid is being rebuilt.
You should be paid like it.
One minute to a live profile. Then let the offers come to you.