Data centers may house AI, but they don’t get built without tradespeople

RESTON, Virginia—Trade talent is tight for the data center industry. With tens of billions being poured into getting concrete poured and data centers up and running as fast as humanly possible, the electrical, HVAC, construction workforce and other related trade positions are one of the major limiting factors in how quickly that happens.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are roughly 400,000 skilled trade jobs unfulfilled across the United States, and the number is growing. Data centers face soaring demand, but struggle to find skilled tradespeople like electricians and HVAC techs.

During a panel at this week’s Data Center Frontier Trends Summit, construction experts hashed out some of the curre

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