Data Centers Promise Thousands of Jobs. Most Are Temporary

Meta's data center under construction in El Paso, Texas, will employ more than 4,000 people at peak build-out. Once it opens, the facility is expected to need just over 300 permanent staff. That is less than 10 percent of the construction workforce. The gap sits at the center of every data center pitch now crossing American planning boards.

Proposals routinely blend short-term and long-term employment into a single headline number. Amazon's expanding investment in Caddo and Bossier Parishes in northwest Louisiana, raised in June from $12 billion to $18 billion with a third Shreveport campus, promises 2,250 construction jobs and 750 full-time positions. In Mississippi, Amazon plans $25 billion in investment and, in its words, "2,000 high-skilled jobs across all our Mississippi data center operations."

"Last year alone our data center investments supported more than 270,000 jobs across the U.S. economy," Roger Wehner, vice president of economic development for Amazon's Data Center Infrastructure, told Newsweek. He said that includes construction workers, technicians, manufacturers, suppliers and local businesses, plus tax revenue funding schools, grid upgrades and community programs.

What does this mean for workers?

The jobs change with the building's life cycle. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC specialists dominate during construction, which can last years, according to Darrell West, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Once the facility runs, the payroll shifts to network operators, cybersecurity staff, maintenance workers and security officers.

"Companies like to hire local because it helps them build good will with area communities," West told Newsweek. "But if they cannot find the workers they need, they will look outside the local area."

Newer projects are bigger and create more jobs than facilities built years ago, West said. He also noted the largest economic benefit is usually not employment but tax revenue — provided towns avoid abatement clauses that grant companies tax breaks.

Where are the hiring numbers growing?

Microsoft's new Pecos, Texas, campus, announced in June, adds 2 gigawatts of global capacity and expects over 6,000 construction jobs at peak. A spokesperson said Microsoft expects "hundreds of long-term operational roles" and is building career pathways with local schools and workforce partners.

Google announced a $1.5 billion expansion of its Jackson County, Alabama, campus in June, on a repurposed coal plant site operating since 2019. It brings over 1,000 contract jobs; the company did not give an exact operational figure. A shared document says Google hires locally first and supports "training, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship."

Federal data points to growth beyond the facilities themselves. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report published in August projects four of the nation's 10 fastest-growing industries will grow largely on electricity demand tied to AI and data centers, adding about 35,800 power-generation jobs through 2035. Data processing, web hosting and related computing infrastructure is projected to grow 25.1 percent, adding 120,400 jobs over the period.

Will pushback slow the buildout?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott temporarily paused approvals for new data centers connecting to the state grid pending an audit. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a July moratorium on new hyperscale proposals to study utility costs and grid capacity. Whether the benefits outweigh the costs remains an open question that officials and residents will keep weighing as proposals arrive.