AI ignites demand for tradespeople powering data center build-out

The demand for new artificial intelligence data centers is increasing, but these centers cannot establish themselves.

Big Tech is spending billions of dollars building these specialized facilities with four hyperscalers. Alphabet, Microsoft, MetaAnd AmazonIt has allocated approximately $700 billion in total investment expenditures this year to finance these developments.

Amazon said last month it was committing $12 billion to build a new AI data center in Louisiana, which would create 540 full-time jobs in the field as well as 1,700 other roles for electricians, technicians and security experts.

Meta also invested $27 billion in a joint venture last year. Blue Owl Capital It will build its massive Hyperion data center in Louisiana, which is expected to consume more electricity than the city of New Orleans.

As concerns that AI will replace white-collar jobs come to a head, the data center boom is creating lucrative opportunities for skilled trades workers.

“The digital revolution requires a huge physical base,” says Sander van’t Noordende, CEO of the world’s largest recruitment firm Randstadhe told CNBC. “After all, the real constraint to global technology growth isn’t just about the lack of microchips, energy, or capital; it’s about the severe shortage of the specialized talent needed to build it.”

Demand for robotic technicians increased by 107% between 2022 and 2026, according to a global analysis of 50 million job postings published by Randstad on Wednesday. The growth rate for refrigeration – or HVAC – systems engineers was 67%, and job openings for industrial automation technicians increased 51%.

Meanwhile, job postings for traditionally skilled trade jobs such as construction workers and electricians increased by 27%, according to analysis by Randstad.

“The debate about AI’s impact on the labor market often focuses entirely on the software side, specifically whether productive models will replace white-collar jobs. But one critical fact is completely overlooked: AI cannot build its own data centers,” Noordende said via emailed comments.

With nearly 12,000 data centers existing worldwide today and thousands more to be built to house high-performance AI computing capacity, it’s crucial that legacy mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are updated every four to six years, according to Mike Mathews, digital infrastructure leader at professional services firm Marsh.

Mathews noted that there are “huge areas of workforce-specific growth” as a result of these retrofit requirements, where network engineers, electricians, mechanical engineers, and plumbing and heating contractors are tapped to install new liquid cooling systems.

Mathews, himself a fourth-generation plumber, described these roles as “new collar” jobs that would allow traditional white-collar and blue-collar workers to work side by side and be valued equally.

“The data center space will be the first time we’re physically working alongside high-wage, high-skilled trade workers alongside network engineers with college degrees. And I think that’s going to be a great social mix that we’re going to have across data centers,” Mathews added.

NvidiaCEO Jensen Huang, a key figure behind the AI ​​data center boom, predicted in January that “six-figure salaries” were on the horizon for workers building AI factories.

One of the main factors driving up these wages is the shortage of trade workers; Based on 2025, the United States is likely to face a shortage of 1.9 million manufacturing workers by 2033. data From the National Association of Manufacturers.

Meanwhile, US-based Associated Builders and Contractors trade group It is estimated that 349,000 new workers will be needed in 2026, with approximately half a million new workers needed in 2027.

“[The skills shortage is] “It’s a big problem right now and it’s going to get worse,” Pure Data Centers CEO Gary Wojtaszek told CNBC.

“The good thing is that AI is not replacing any of these jobs; someone has to manage these machines, so these are really important jobs and that’s a big challenge for the industry in general.”

To tackle the skills gap, Randstad’s Noordende said businesses and governments needed to invest in training programmes.

Skills shortages also lead to cross-sector poaching because there is so much overlap in operational technical skills required for energy, defense and technology, according to William Self, chief workforce strategist at global workforce consultancy Mercer.

In early March, Black Rock one started $100 million startup Empowering the next generation of tradespeople, as CEO Larry Fink emphasizes that capital alone is not enough to realize the $10 trillion investment needed in infrastructure.

“[The] The skills profile is evolving faster than traditional job descriptions can keep track,” Mercer’s Self said in a virtual press briefing on the subject.

“Given the scarcity of supply, the companies that win this talent race will be those that invest in both traditional recruiting and nontraditional workforce development. I see apprenticeship programs, community college partnerships, military veteran pipelines, and even in-house talent academies for companies to develop their own talent.”

But the boom in demand for key AI infrastructure jobs also faces several obstacles, including aging demographics and geographic constraints.

According to Noordende, approximately 1 in 4 workers worldwide are approaching retirement age and the talent pool is not replenishing fast enough.

“Unlike software developers, who can often work remotely, skilled trades have very low geographic mobility,” he said.

“An equipment technician or construction worker must be physically on site. When a company builds a new AI data center or manufacturing facility, it’s a region-changing event that can immediately deplete local talent pools.”

Mercer’s Self said it would be difficult to predict how much of a “danger wage rate” would be included in salaries in the future.

Earlier this month, Amazon Web Services’ data centers in the United Arab Emirates were targeted in Iranian drone attacks. As conflict in the Middle East unfolds, Self says, “you can also imagine that there could be a certain psychic toll for people who work in facilities where they know very well that they could be hot targets or bad actors, which could additionally increase the types of compensation packages that we’re going to see to attract that population to those centers.” he added.