Key points
- The AI buildout needs skilled tradespeople
- Training routes depend on the job
- Permitting delays could slow hiring
Data centers need electricians, HVAC techs, welders, plumbers, pipefitters, and fiber techs. Many workers enter through paid apprenticeships, technical programs, or employer training rather than a four-year degree. Demand for those workers is growing with the AI buildout, even as local opposition mounts, CNBC reported Saturday.
Experienced workers can earn six figures in some markets. At IBEW Local 26, which serves northern Virginia's data center cluster, apprentices start at about $26 an hour, Fortune reported in March. Journeyman electricians earn about $59.50 an hour. That works out to about $124,000 for a full year of 40-hour weeks, before overtime. With overtime or foreman responsibilities, earnings can approach $200,000, according to Fortune.
Those wages help explain the appeal. But workers also live in the communities weighing what a data center will mean for electricity bills, water supplies, and their neighborhoods. A construction job and a permanent operating job offer different prospects.
As candidates head into the November elections, I want them to get specific: how many jobs will go to local workers, how long will they last, and what training will people need?
The headline employment figures don't always answer those questions. Cushman & Wakefield estimates that every 100 megawatts of new data center development supports nearly 1,300 local jobs and about $110 million in annual wages. That includes work across the wider economy, not just inside the campus. The published summary does not separate temporary construction jobs from permanent positions.
Which jobs are growing
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects above-average growth through 2035 for electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, and power-line installers. Its outlook for telecommunications technicians and computer support specialists is weaker.
| Job | Median pay, May 2025 | Projected growth, 2025-35 | Usual way in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power-line installers | $95,320 | 10% | High school diploma, long-term on-the-job training |
| Plumbers and pipefitters | $63,800 | 7% | High school diploma, apprenticeship |
| Electricians | $63,190 | 9% | High school diploma, apprenticeship |
| HVAC technicians | $61,010 | 11% | Postsecondary certificate, on-the-job training |
| Telecommunications technicians | $66,200 | -3% | High school diploma, on-the-job training |
| Computer support specialists | $62,890 | -3% | Some college or associate degree |
Pay figures are national medians, and growth figures are national projections. Neither isolates data center work or jobs created by AI.
Those medians also leave out overtime, which is common on data center work. NPR profiled a fourth-year union apprentice who makes $43 an hour, plus time-and-a-half and double time. In Texas, a homebuilder told the Texas Tribune he can pay electricians $20 an hour, while data centers offer $35 plus overtime and per diem.
Brookings research offers a local comparison: counties receiving their first large data center saw data-processing employment rise 56% over a decade and telecommunications employment rise 43%. The study did not find a corresponding increase in county wages.
How to get in
Start with the job, then work out which training it requires. Some credentials below are required for specific tasks. Others are optional, and an employer may offer or pay for the training.
| Credential | Issuer | Who it's for | Exam cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| OSHA 10 or 30 card | OSHA | Anyone on a construction site; OSHA says it's a course card, not a certification | Set by trainers |
| Installer 1 (INST1) | BICSI | Beginners in copper cabling, no experience required | $335 member, $400 non-member |
| Certified Fiber Optic Technician (CFOT) | Fiber Optic Association | Entry-level fiber work, usually through an FOA-approved school | $150 for the direct exam, $170 from Oct. 1 |
| Section 608 | EPA | Required to service cooling equipment with refrigerants | Set by test providers |
| Certified Electrical Safety Technician | NFPA | Electrical safety under the NFPA 70E standard | $499 |
| A+, Network+, Server+ | CompTIA | IT side; CompTIA pitches Server+ at data center staff | Not listed |
| Certified Data Centre Professional (CDCP) | EPI | Data center basics, no prerequisite | Not listed |
For electricians, a paid apprenticeship is the main route. The IBEW and NECA run joint programs through the electrical training ALLIANCE, and the Labor Department's apprenticeship finder lets applicants search by trade and ZIP code.
Data center companies also offer or support training:
- Meta's America's Workforce Academy provides four weeks of free fiber and construction training, with travel and lodging covered. Graduates earn an NCCER credential, and Meta says they are guaranteed jobs with a partner company.
- Amazon Web Services offers a 12-month paid program in data center operations.
- Microsoft's Datacenter Academy works with community colleges near its facilities.
- Google has committed $50 million to the electrical training ALLIANCE, according to its data center site.
If I were starting from zero, I'd compare nearby apprenticeship openings and contractor vacancies before paying for a course. Fiber and cabling can offer shorter training routes. Electrical work generally takes years of apprenticeship, but you can earn while you train.
The hiring extends to equipment suppliers
The demand reaches the factories supplying the buildout. We reported this month on Samsung and SK Hynix bringing workers from Korea to help start their US chip plants. Korean manufacturers of transformers and switchgear are also adding American jobs.
- Hyosung HICO announced 240 new jobs at its Memphis transformer plant last November, following 123 announced in May, according to Tennessee's economic development department.
- HD Hyundai Electric plans to hire about 200 more workers at its Montgomery, Alabama, plant after completing a second building in 2027, the company said.
- LS Electric is expanding its Utah switchgear plant, citing demand from AI and data center construction. Utah officials project 250 new jobs.
Finding skilled workers remains difficult, according to Korean companies interviewed by Korea Daily. A year after the immigration raid at the Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia, they have reduced staff transfers from Korea and hired more locally. A bill proposing a dedicated work visa for Koreans has not passed Congress.
What could slow it down
The backlash is real. Gallup found 71% of Americans oppose a data center in their area. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has told the state's environmental regulator to stop issuing permits to data center projects until the grid operator finishes an electricity audit, Politico reported. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an order in July that pauses state environmental permits for new hyperscale data centers for up to a year.
New York's order also calls for prevailing wages, project labor agreements, local hiring, and apprenticeships on data center construction. For workers, the backlash is partly a fight over who gets the jobs.
Rachel Lipson of Harvard's Project on Workforce told CNBC that projects already underway will keep hiring. If moratoriums spread and fewer projects get approved, she said, hiring would eventually slow, but "with a lag, as the existing pipeline gets built out." Permits lead construction by years, which is why our AI Bubble Index watches approvals rather than announcements.
The other risk is where the building happens. Brightray, an AI infrastructure company whose only manufacturer is the Chinese firm PrefabDC, wants to sell prefabricated data centers built at a factory in Yangzhou, China, CNBC reported. Brightray says the method can cut construction time at least in half. The Trump administration is considering bans on new types of Chinese data center components, according to CNBC.
For someone interested in hands-on work, the AI buildout is worth watching. I'd look for funded projects already under construction and employers offering paid training, rather than choose a course around a proposed campus.
