A.I.’s Data Center Rush Will Create Six-Figure Trade Jobs, Jensen Huang Predicts
Much has been said about A.I.’s potential to replace jobs. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is more concerned about A.I. creating a labor shortage—at least in the short term. As tech companies race to build data centers across the U.S. and around the world, they will need tradespeople such as plumbers, electricians and construction workers to make it happen. “This is the largest infrastructure buildout in human history. That’s going to create a lot of jobs,” said Huang during an interview with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21.
New labor opportunities will be especially concentrated in the trades, where Huang claims pay has already nearly doubled. Those who help build semiconductor plants, computer factories and data centers will soon be making “six-figure salaries,” according to the executive.
“Everyone should be able to make a great living,” said Huang. “You don’t need a Ph.D. in computer science to do so.”
The median annual pay for electricians in 2024 was around $62,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was roughly $46,000 for construction laborers and nearly $63,000 for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters. Growth for all three professions from 2024 to 2034 is expected to outpace the average occupational growth rate of 3 percent, with demand for electricians in particular surging. The field is projected to expand by 9 percent over the next decade, with about 81,000 openings projected annually on average.
The U.S. is already seeing a “significant boom” in these areas, according to Huang—so much so that it has led to a “great shortage” in tradecraft roles. The A.I. boom is expected to worsen a worker deficit the industry was already facing. In December 2022, some 490,000 construction positions went unfilled, according to a McKinsey report, the highest level recorded this century.
Huang isn’t the only CEO who believes A.I. will be a boon for trade jobs. Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, described vocational skills as “very valuable, if not irreplaceable,” while speaking in Davos earlier this week. Ford CEO Jim Farley has made similar arguments on behalf of the blue-collar community, saying the country does not yet have a large enough workforce to support its data center ambitions. “I think the intent is there, but there’s nothing to backfill the ambition,” he told Axios in August.
The opportunity for A.I.-driven manual labor jobs won’t be limited to the U.S., Huang added, but will extend around the world as data center construction accelerates. “There is not one country in the world I can imagine where you [don’t] need to have A.I. as part of your infrastructure.”