Data centers and job creation

Data centers are structures that require large spaces and significant energy but employ a limited number of people. In Italy, there are about 157 data centers employing around 7,000 workers. Most jobs are created during the construction of these facilities, while the number of employees for their management is very low. This phenomenon is also evident in the United States, where tech companies are investing huge sums to build new data centers. For example, Apple announced a $500 billion investment and the creation of 20,000 jobs, but it did not specify how many of these will actually be employed in data centers.

In the United States, the Stargate program, launched by the Trump administration, aims to build new data centers to support the development of artificial intelligence. However, once completed, these centers will employ only a small number of people. In Abilene, Texas, it is estimated that the first Stargate data center will have only 100 full-time employees, a small number compared to the space occupied. This has raised growing concerns about the actual job creation, as data centers have been defined as places with the fewest employees per square meter.

In Italy, the situation is similar. Data centers are at the center of an agreement between the Italian government and the United Arab Emirates, with planned investments of €40 billion. Currently, in Italy, data centers would employ about 8,000 people, but with the indirect effect, the number could double. The facilities vary in size, averaging between 5,000 and 500,000 square meters. The largest is located near Bergamo and occupies 200,000 square meters. However, the number of employees for each data center generally ranges from 30 to 50, highlighting the discrepancy between investments and the actual jobs created. Managing these centers requires specialized technicians, but the total number of workers remains limited, raising questions about the sustainability of such investments in the long term.