Data Centers Drive High-Skilled Jobs, Officials Say
The industry supports specialized careers and local economic growth, despite perceptions of limited employment.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2026 – Data centers are driving high-skilled employment and broader economic growth, officials said Thursday at Data Center World, pushing back on perceptions that the industry creates few jobs.
Maureen Russell, deputy associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said digital infrastructure investment is central to both job creation and economic development.
“At the highest level, President Trump has been advocating for digital infrastructure investments,” Russell said, adding that expanding connectivity also expands employment opportunities.
Russell said federal agencies are working with state, local, and industry partners to coordinate workforce development and infrastructure policy.
Martin Olsen, vice president of segment strategy and deployment for data centers at Vertiv, said the industry’s impact goes beyond the number of workers inside a facility.
“It’s not necessarily how many people are employed within the building,” Olsen said. “It’s really what that data center attracts from the broader ecosystem.”
He said data centers support roles across engineering, mechanical and electrical trades, as well as finance and operations, with jobs that tend to be specialized and long-term.
Donald Slaiman, director of community relations at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said the sector has driven significant growth in skilled trades.
Demand continues after construction, with ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and retrofitting sustaining long-term employment.
Tiffany Kovaleski, CEO of workforce development firm The GOR Group, said companies are expanding hiring pipelines by focusing on skills rather than traditional credentials.
Kovaleski said she founded the company to focus on “transferable skills”.
Programs target veterans, career changers, and women, using training partnerships and virtual tools to build local workforces, she said. “We are really trying to hit every angle.”
Russell said continued growth will depend on coordination across government, industry, and labor.
She pointed to a “multi-stakeholder approach” to align workforce development with infrastructure need
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