October 2026 study
Construction jobs per permanent job
6 of the 109 projects in our trackers state both a construction job figure and a permanent job figure. Between them, the ratio runs from 4 to 57.5 construction jobs for every permanent one, median about 16.1. Estimated from published peak workforce and jobs-per-MW figures instead, the ratio is 4.9 to 13.7. Both are shown.
By Czarina Tabayoyong, Founder, Critical Path Hiring. Former Amazon, AWS and Google recruiter.
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Findings
- Stated by the projects: 4 to 57.5 construction jobs per permanent job across 6 projects, median about 16.1. Vantage Millersport campus states 2,500 construction jobs and 37 to 50 permanent ones. Buckeye Tech Corridor states 2,000 and 500.
- Estimated from the record: named builds report about 192 to 533 construction workers at peak per 100 MW, and the 5 tracked projects that state both jobs and MW promise a median of about 39 permanent jobs per 100 MW. That gives 4.9 to 13.7 construction workers per permanent job.
- The two methods overlap at the low end and the stated figures run higher, because developers tend to quote total construction jobs over the whole build while the estimate uses peak headcount at one time.
- The two Utah projects sit at opposite ends of the stated range: Meta's Eagle Mountain expansion at 4 and QTS Eagle Mountain at 20. Same metro, same year, different ways of counting.
Stated ratios
| Project | Market | Stage | Construction jobs stated | Permanent jobs stated | Ratio | Who said it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckeye Tech Corridor | Phoenix | Approved | 2,000 | 500 | 4 to 1 | News report (Phoenix Business Journal via KTAR), figures unattributed in article |
| Meta Eagle Mountain expansion | Salt Lake City | Proposed | 1,200 | 300 | 4 to 1 | Expansion projection reported by Utah Business citing KUTV (not directly attributed to Meta in text) |
| Joliet Technology Center | Chicago | Stalled | 7,000 to 10,000 | 700 | 12.1 to 1 | Project promise as reported (unattributed in article; developer Hillwood cited for $2.1B tax figure) |
| QTS Eagle Mountain campus (SLC1) | Salt Lake City | Under construction | 2,000 | 100 | 20 to 1 | Developer/contractor joint press release (QTS and Layton Construction) |
| Rumble Technology Park | Atlanta | Approved | 1,700 | 30 to 50 | 42.5 to 1 | Developer statement (via 11Alive, 2024 original 525-acre proposal) |
| Vantage Millersport campus | Columbus | Under construction | 2,500 | 37 to 50 | 57.5 to 1 | State announcement (Governor) and developer statement |
Estimated ratio
| Figure | Per 100 MW | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Peak construction workers, estimate | 192 to 533 | Meta Richland Parish (5,000 for 2,600 MW) and Abilene (more than 6,400 for 1,200 MW), on our labor gap page |
| Permanent jobs promised, median | 39 | 5 tracked projects stating both jobs and MW, on our job promises page |
| Construction workers per permanent job | 4.9 to 13.7 | Estimate, the first row divided by the second |
Hiring impact
For a recruiter or a county, the job count in the announcement is mostly a construction count. On the stated figures, a project that promises 50 permanent jobs puts about 804 people to work during the build and about 50 after it. The build on tracked projects runs about a year per phase (hiring runway), so the construction workforce is hired fast, kept for a year or two and released.
The permanent roles are the ones that stay in the metro: critical facilities technicians, operations engineers and a site manager. They are hired in the last two quarters before turnover, alongside the commissioning team, and most of them come from the same local trades pool the construction crews drew from.
Method and limits
- Stated pairs: projects in the job promises study whose source states a construction job figure and a permanent job figure. Ranges use the midpoint. 6 of 109 projects qualify.
- Construction wording varies: "peak", "during construction" and totals over a multi-year build are all recorded as stated, which inflates some ratios.
- The estimate multiplies two medians from different small sets, so it gives the scale. It is not a forecast for any one site.
- Permanent job promises are developer statements. Virginia's legislative audit office put a typical 250,000 square foot building at about 50 full-time workers, half of them contractors, which is in line with the median here.
Questions
- How many construction jobs does a data center create compared with permanent jobs?
- Among the 6 tracked projects whose announcements state both figures, the ratio runs from 4 construction jobs per permanent job (Buckeye Tech Corridor) to 57.5 (Vantage Millersport campus), with a median of about 16.1. Estimated from published peak workforce and job figures instead, a 100 MW build needs about 192 to 533 construction workers at peak and promises a median of about 39 permanent jobs, a ratio of 4.9 to 13.7.
- Are data center construction jobs temporary?
- Yes. The construction figures in announcements are peak or total headcounts over a build that takes about a year per phase on tracked projects, and the crews move to the next site. The permanent figure is the operations staff that stays. The ratio on this page is the size of the workforce that leaves for each job that stays.
Related
Job promises
Jobs promised in filings and announcements, against what the projects employ.
Construction labor gap by metro
Tracked capacity under construction against the local construction workforce.
Operations pay ranges
Posted pay for critical facilities engineers, chief engineers and technicians, updated monthly.
Hiring call
Book a hiring call and we'll talk through which roles your build needs and when to bring them on.
Czarina Tabayoyong
Founder and principal recruiter, Critical Path Hiring. Czarina recruits commissioning, MEP, power and critical facilities people for data center builds. She previously recruited cloud and data center architecture talent at AWS Professional Services, and PMO and project delivery talent for hyperscale data center campuses in Texas and Virginia.