Large technology companies and corporations have invested a lot of money in building data centers. According to CNBC, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are committed to spending nearly 700 billion USD on these projects.
Not long ago, Amazon said it would invest 12 billion USD to build a new AI data center in Louisiana, creating 540 full-time jobs on the spot as well as 1,700 other positions for electricians, technicians and security experts.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) leads to concerns about job losses in many fields, especially office workers. However, the explosion of data centers creates lucrative opportunities for highly skilled workers.
The digital revolution requires a huge material platform," said Sander van't Noordende, CEO of Randstad, the world's largest recruitment company. According to him, the explosion of data centers is accompanied by a shortage of high-quality human resources to work in these places.
According to a global analysis based on 50 million job postings recently released by Randstad, from 2022 to 2026, the demand for robot technicians increased by 107%. For cooling system engineers (or HVACs), the growth rate is 67%, and the number of job positions recruiting industrial automation technicians increased by 51%.
Meanwhile, according to Randstad's analysis, the number of recruitment news for jobs in traditional engineering industries such as construction workers and electricians has increased by 27%.
The debate about the impact of AI on the labor market often focuses entirely on the software aspect, specifically whether generative models will replace office jobs. But an important reality is being completely overlooked: AI cannot build its own data center," Noordende analyzed.
According to Mike Mathews, Head of Digital Infrastructure at professional service company Marsh, there are currently about 12,000 data centers globally and thousands of other centers will be built to meet high-performance AI computing capabilities. Updating outdated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems every four to six years is essential.
Mr. Noordende of Randstad said "the labor shortage is taking effect" and the advertised salaries for HVAC engineers have increased by about 10% to 15% in the past four years.
According to estimates from recruitment company Kelly Services, technical and specialized experts transferring to senior positions in data centers often receive salary increases from 25% to 30%. The company said salary increases may vary depending on the role and comprehensive salary data for positions in the data center are still being collected.
According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's forecast, million-dollar salaries will soon appear for workers building data centers.
An important factor pushing this wage level up is the labor shortage in the commercial sector, with the US possibly facing the risk of a shortage of 1.9 million manufacturing workers by 2033, according to 2025 data from the National Manufacturers' Association.
