A $10 billion data center campus in Lebanon, Indiana, is set to create approximately 300 jobs once it becomes operational. Meta, the company behind the facility, announced in February that this project will represent over $10 billion in regional investment. During peak construction, it is expected to provide support for more than 4,000 construction jobs. Once fully operational, the campus will sustain around 300 permanent positions.
Comparing this to TSMC’s semiconductor complex in Phoenix, Arizona, sheds light on the labor density differences. TSMC’s $165 billion investment in the U.S. is projected to directly generate 12,000 jobs once all sites are completed and fully functional. This equates to one job for every $14 million invested, indicating a higher labor density than Meta’s data center.
The disparity in job creation becomes even more pronounced when looking at Virginia data centers, which produce only one permanent job for every $13 million invested. In contrast, it costs approximately $137,000 to create one job outside of the data center sector, making the investment significantly lower.
This discrepancy has sparked a national debate on what communities should anticipate when a hyperscale facility like a data center arrives in their county.
The most automated hyperscale campuses can operate with minimal human intervention. Facilities exceeding 100 megawatts can run with as few as 20 to 30 permanent staff per 100 MW, according to a data center workforce forecast from the Hamm Institute. Industry benchmarks suggest that the most automated campuses typically require around 25 to 40 operators per 100 megawatts.
Specific project announcements further underscore this pattern. For instance, Amazon Web Services’ $35 billion investment in Virginia is expected to create at least 1,000 new jobs across the state by 2040. On the other hand, Ark Data Centers’ $136 million campus expansion in Ohio will only result in 10 new jobs.
While an average retail data center using two to five megawatts employs roughly 30 permanent workers, hyperscale facilities can create anywhere from 100 to 1,000 permanent jobs, depending on their size. However, even at the high end, these numbers are relatively small compared to the capital invested.
In terms of indirect employment effects, research indicates that counties hosting large data centers can see an increase in total private employment by 4% to 5% over five to six years. Construction employment may jump by 11%, while the information sector employment could grow by 22%. However, these gains are contingent on multiple facilities being present in the same area.
Overall, while data centers do provide economic value to host communities through property tax revenue, the job creation aspect may be limited. It is crucial for communities evaluating data center proposals to understand the balance between property tax revenue and job creation that these facilities offer.
