> This is the markdown version of https://www.classet.ai/blog/how-many-jobs-does-a-data-center-create > Learn more at https://www.classet.ai ![Low-poly illustration of a data center silhouette with geometric blocks radiating outward in arcs](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fblog%2Fhow-many-jobs-does-a-data-center-create.png&w=3840&q=75) # How Many Jobs Does a Data Center Create? Construction vs. Permanent, With Sources The honest answer to how many jobs a data center creates: roughly 1,500 workers on site at construction peak, about 50 permanent jobs per building, plus indirect jobs. Sources from Virginia's JLARC, the US Chamber, and state audits in Georgia and Ohio. [![Paul Jones](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.basehub.com%2Fe0b5701f%2F6599306507912123f90f150a8bfaaf6c%2Fscreenshot-2026-01-28-at-10.53.16-am.png%3Fwidth%3D100%26height%3D100%26quality%3D100&w=96&q=75) Paul JonesHead of Growth at Classet ](/blog/authors/paul-jones) August 27, 2026 Skilled Trades, Guides & Insights The number in the press release is always the construction number, and the number in the county commission meeting is always the permanent one, and the argument at the zoning hearing is about which one counts. Both are real. They are just answers to different questions, and the gap between them is the single most useful thing to understand about data center hiring, whether you are a contractor staffing a build or an operator staffing the hall afterward. This post gives the honest ranges with sources: how many people work on a data center while it is being built, how many work in it once it opens, what the indirect multiplier adds, and why the split matters for anyone hiring locally. Quick answer A data center creates two different job counts. During construction, a single building carries roughly 1,500 workers on site at peak and takes 12 to 18 months to build, according to Virginia's JLARC study of the state's data center industry. The US Chamber's economic model puts the average at 1,688 local construction workers and $77.7 million in construction wages per facility. Once the building opens, permanent employment drops sharply: JLARC found a typical 250,000-square-foot facility employs about 50 full-time people on site, roughly half of them contractors. Statewide audits confirm the ratio. Georgia counted 28,350 data center construction jobs in 2025 against 5,471 permanent ones, and Ohio counted about 22,300 against 4,500. Five construction jobs exist for every permanent job. ## Construction jobs: about 1,500 at peak, per building The cleanest source is Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which studied the state's data center industry in 2024 because Loudoun County hosts more of it than anywhere on earth. JLARC [found](https://jlarc.virginia.gov/landing-2024-data-centers-in-virginia.asp) that "at the height of construction, approximately 1,500 workers are on site" for an individual data center building, and that construction "usually takes about 12 to 18 months." Statewide, the industry supported about 59,000 construction jobs a year. The US Chamber of Commerce's technology center came to a similar figure by a different route. Its [economic impact report](https://www.uschamber.com/technology/us-chamber-report-data-centers-average-325-million-economic-impact), modeled by ndp analytics, found data centers "on average employ 1,688 local workers" during construction and pay $77.7 million in construction wages per facility. Those are per-building numbers. Campuses multiply them. Fayette County, Georgia's administrator told a local paper the QTS campus in Fayetteville runs about [8,000 workers at peak](https://thecitizen.com/2026/05/11/behind-fayettes-qts-water-controversy-a-missed-meter-8000-workers-and-a-massive-construction-project/), which he compared to importing the population of a nearby town onto the site each day. The Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, is reported at around 9,000 construction jobs, per [KUT](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis). Multi-building hyperscale sites in the New Albany, Ohio business park have drawn roughly 25,000 construction workers across 40 completed and 28 planned facilities, per [News 5 Cleveland](https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/ohios-data-center-boom-really-started-in-new-albany-we-went-there-to-see-what-it-looks-like). The trade mix inside that 1,500 is what matters for hiring. The IBEW puts electrical work at [45 to 70 percent](https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/the-data-center-surge-a-new-generation-of-ibew-jobs/) of a data center's construction budget, so electricians are the largest single group, with pipefitters, HVAC and mechanical, ironworkers, and concrete trades behind them. A single Loudoun County site profiled by Data Center Frontier ran more than 250 electricians under one general foreman. Kelly's [2026 Data Center Salary Guide](https://www.kellyservices.com/press-releases/kelly-releases-2026-data-center-salary-guide-highlighting-compensation-hiring-trends-driven-by-ai-acceleration) expects data-center-related construction jobs to exceed 180,000 positions nationally through 2028. ## Permanent jobs: about 50 per building JLARC's answer is the one to remember: "a typical 250,000-square-foot data center may have approximately 50 full-time workers, about half of which are contract workers." Those are facilities technicians, critical facilities and electrical staff, security, and site management, working 24/7 rotations. The US Chamber's model counts 157 ongoing local jobs per data center, but that figure includes the supply chain (the electricians on maintenance contracts, the diesel supplier, the landscaping firm), not just the people badged into the building. Both numbers are correct for what they measure. When a developer says "hundreds of permanent jobs," they usually mean the Chamber's definition. When a county says "fifty," they mean JLARC's. Statewide audits confirm the ratio. Georgia's Department of Audits, working with the Carl Vinson Institute, counted 28,350 data center construction jobs in the state in 2025 against 5,471 permanent operations jobs, per [Capitol Beat](https://capitol-beat.org/2026/01/state-report-says-data-centers-a-boon-to-economy-despite-tax-giveaway/). Ohio's numbers, from a University of Virginia analysis reported by [WOSU](https://www.wosu.org/2026-01-19/columbus-will-become-second-largest-data-center-hub-in-the-great-lakes-region-report-says), were about 22,300 short-term construction jobs against roughly 4,500 permanent as of 2024. Five to one, in both states. Measure Figure Source Workers on site at construction peak, per building ~1,500 Virginia JLARC, 2024 Local construction workers, per facility (average) 1,688 US Chamber / ndp analytics Construction duration, per building 12 to 18 months Virginia JLARC Permanent on-site jobs, 250,000 sq ft facility ~50 (half contract) Virginia JLARC Ongoing local jobs incl. supply chain 157 US Chamber / ndp analytics Georgia, 2025: construction vs. permanent 28,350 vs. 5,471 Georgia Dept. of Audits via Capitol Beat Ohio, 2024: construction vs. permanent ~22,300 vs. ~4,500 UVA via WOSU ## The indirect jobs, and why estimates vary Every economic impact study adds indirect and induced jobs: the supplier payroll, the diner across from the site gate, the extended-stay hotel that fills with travelers. Those are real, and they are where most of the disagreement lives, because the multiplier depends on whether the construction crew is local (spends locally) or traveling (sends the paycheck home). Hotel Dive [reported](https://www.hoteldive.com/news/how-data-center-projects-reshape-extended-stay-hotel-demand/825716/) extended-stay operators naming Virginia data center construction as a demand driver, which is the induced effect in one sentence. Two cautions when reading a headline number. First, "jobs created" often means job-years across a multi-year build, not simultaneous positions. Second, Georgia's auditors estimated that about 70 percent of the state's data center construction would have happened without the sales-tax exemption, which is a reminder that the jobs and the incentives are separate questions. ## Why the split matters for hiring The 1,500-to-50 ratio describes two different labor markets that happen to share an address. The construction workforce is a ramp. General contractors and MEP subcontractors hire hundreds of electricians, pipefitters, and mechanical techs for a 12- to 18-month window, peak in the rough-in and commissioning phases, and release most of them when the hall is energized. The problem is speed: those trades are in shortage, every other data center in the market is bidding for them, and a month of delay on a 60 MW facility costs about $14.2 million by STL Partners' [estimate](https://stlpartners.com/press/delays-in-data-centre-construction/). The contractor who reaches an applying journeyman first usually gets the crew; the [electrician hiring playbook](/blog/how-to-hire-data-center-electricians) walks through how. The permanent workforce is a treadmill. Fifty technicians on a 24/7 rotation, a quarter of whom get hired away every year per Kelly, so the operator is always recruiting for two or three seats. The problem is retention and re-hire speed, not volume. Both problems have the same first step, which is why we built the [data center hiring page](/use-cases/data-centers) for contractors and operators together: talk to applicants the day they apply, ask the questions that matter for that role (voltage class and per diem for the electrician, rotation and commute for the technician), and get a summary to the person who decides before the next employer calls. The regional view of where those 1,500-person ramps are happening right now is in [where data center construction hiring is happening in 2026](/blog/where-data-center-construction-hiring-is-happening-2026), and the original post on how Big Tech ran into the trades shortage is [here](/blog/data-center-trades-shortage). ## Common questions How many jobs does a data center create during construction? About 1,500 workers on site at peak for a single building, over a 12- to 18-month build, according to Virginia's JLARC study. The US Chamber's model averages 1,688 local construction workers per facility. Multi-building campuses run far higher: QTS Fayetteville at roughly 8,000 workers at peak, Stargate Abilene at around 9,000. How many permanent jobs does a data center create? About 50 full-time on-site positions for a typical 250,000-square-foot facility, roughly half of them contractors, according to Virginia's JLARC study. Counting supply-chain and service work such as generator maintenance, security, and cleaning, the US Chamber's model reaches 157 ongoing local jobs per data center plus $7.8 million in annual wages. Both figures are correct for what they measure, which is why a developer's press release and a county commission hearing can quote different numbers honestly. Statewide audits show construction jobs outnumbering permanent jobs about five to one: Georgia recorded 5,471 permanent data center jobs in 2025 and Ohio about 4,500 as of 2024. Kelly projects US data center employment reaching 650,000 positions in 2026, a 30 percent increase over 2023. Does a data center create jobs for the local community? Yes, but mostly during construction and mostly in the skilled trades. The permanent workforce is small, well paid, and on 24/7 rotations. Indirect jobs (suppliers, hotels, restaurants) depend heavily on whether the construction crew is local or traveling. Georgia's auditors also noted that most of the state's data center construction would have occurred without tax incentives. What kinds of jobs does data center construction create? Electricians are the largest group, because electrical work is 45 to 70 percent of a data center build (IBEW), followed by pipefitters and mechanical trades, HVAC technicians, ironworkers, concrete and civil crews, and controls and commissioning specialists toward the end. Kelly projects data-center-related construction jobs to exceed 180,000 nationally through 2028. What jobs are in a data center once it opens? Five role families staff a live data center. Facilities and critical facilities technicians run the hall on 24-hour rotations, handling racks, cabling, break-fix, and the UPS, generator, and cooling alarms. Electrical and mechanical maintenance staff cover switchgear, chillers, and scheduled preventive work. Security controls badge access at facilities that host other companies' equipment. Site management handles vendors, capacity, and customer escalations. A smaller number of network and commissioning specialists rotate through as capacity comes online. The technician role is the entry point, and Uptime Institute recommends a minimum of one to two qualified operators on site at all times, which for two on the floor means 10 to 12 people once turnover is priced in. The [data center technician career page](/skilled-trades-careers/data-center-technician) covers certifications, pay, and the ladder. ## Key points - A single data center building has about 1,500 workers on site at construction peak and takes 12 to 18 months (JLARC); the US Chamber averages 1,688 construction workers per facility. - Permanent on-site employment is about 50 per building (JLARC), or 157 including the supply chain (US Chamber). - Georgia and Ohio audits both show roughly five construction jobs for every permanent one. - Electricians are the largest construction group because electrical is 45 to 70 percent of build cost. - The construction workforce is a speed problem; the permanent workforce is a retention problem; both start with talking to applicants the day they apply. ## Next steps Whether you are staffing the ramp or the rotation, the mechanics are on the [data center hiring page](/use-cases/data-centers), or [see how Joy runs the first conversation](/demo). [![Paul Jones](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.basehub.com%2Fe0b5701f%2F6599306507912123f90f150a8bfaaf6c%2Fscreenshot-2026-01-28-at-10.53.16-am.png%3Fwidth%3D100%26height%3D100%26quality%3D100&w=128&q=75) Paul Jones Head of Growth at Classet Paul comes from an operator background running an Alpine-owned company, and brings firsthand experience with the hiring challenges Classet was built to solve. He's driven by a belief that the right technology can make meaningful work more accessible. ](/blog/authors/paul-jones) Follow Classet in Google Add classet.ai as a preferred source and our hiring research is more likely to show up in your Top Stories and AI Overviews. 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