Google and Meta are training Americans to build AI data centers. There is a shortage of workers
Tech companies need electricians, welders and plumbers to build data centers, despite opposition from some in the community. The race for AI has a problem with a lack of blue-collar workers. Big Tech wants to solve it.
A few days after Meta announced the launch of a $250 million program. intended to train Americans to work in the construction of data centers, Google announced a similar initiative.
The search engine giant announced an investment of $50 million on Thursday. in training programs for technical professions across the United States crucial to building AI and energy infrastructure. The programs are aimed at future construction workers, electricians, plumbers, installation fitters, welders and other physical workers. According to a Google spokesman, some training partnerships are already underway.
These actions follow previous initiatives by Oracle and Microsoft that expanded existing programs aimed at creating a pipeline of employees supporting AI development. Together, they highlight the shortage of specialists capable of building the data centers needed to realize AI ambitions — and the growing role of technology companies in solving this problem.
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AI needs manual workers, not engineers
“The limit to development is not hiring more engineers. It's building physical infrastructure.” said Rob Lalka, a business professor at Tulane University. “White collar workers in Silicon Valley can't succeed without blue-collar workers across America.”
According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry needs approximately 349,000. new hires this year to meet growing AI-driven demand.
Because technology companies are more accustomed to training workers who operate computers rather than construction equipment, they partner with organizations like the International Training Institute for the sheet metal and air conditioning industries to achieve their goals. This makes Meta and Google attractive partners for supporters of programs aimed at increasing the number of qualified blue-collar workers for years.
“We welcome the support of industry leaders like Google to create good-paying, stable jobs and meet the growing energy needs of our economy,” said Kenneth Cooper, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
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Development of data centers. There are voices of criticism
However, Big Tech's development of data centers is also met with opposition.
Some critics point to the scale of layoffs in the technology industry that companies attribute to AI, and residents across the United States are protesting against such investments in their communities. A Gallup poll from May found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose living near a data center.
In 2025, permits were issued for 176 new data centers in 34 states — the most in a single year since the first permits were issued in 1976, Business Insider previously reported.
The article is a translation from American edition of Business Insider
