Are trades workers betting on today and borrowing against their future?
Trades workers have long been underpaid relative to the persistent labor shortages across skilled roles. The build-out of data centers represents a unique opportunity for these workers to finally secure private-sector rates that haven't been widely available to them.
While public pushback against data center construction is growing, the Wall Street Journal reported that trade unions are throwing their support behind pro-data center politicians. The reason is straightforward: data center construction is delivering higher-paying jobs directly to the skilled trades.
But there is a cruel irony in this moment.
Workers get paid once to build the data center. But the downstream strain created by that build increases their personal cost of living indefinitely.
When the public sector can’t compete with private tech wages to fill critical infrastructure roles, that work gets contracted out. Who pays the premium? The public. And because the labor shortage is systemic, that cost isn't a one-time line item.
The cycle is predictable: Data centers outbid public employers for trades talent → public entities can't fill infrastructure roles → critical work is contracted out well above internal baseline costs → those costs are recovered through higher utility rates and local taxes → and the people footing that bill include the very workers who built the centers, long after the construction crews have moved on.
These data centers are being driven by the tech sector's need for compute required to scale AI. And while AI holds promise, the unchecked downstream applications are already creating friction.
Delta, for instance, is currently piloting AI-driven pricing. While Delta maintains the tool simply helps analysts track real-time seat demand and route capacity, critics and lawmakers warn it opens the door to price surveillance, charging passengers dynamic rates based on individual buyer attributes like zip codes and travel habits, rather than pure seat availability. Delta denies this is the goal, but the precedent is being set.
AI is rapidly reshaping society and the workforce. Skilled trades workers now sit at an unprecedented crossroads: capturing much-needed higher wages today, while building the very infrastructure that may extract those gains on the back end tomorrow.
I don't know if there is a right or wrong. I don't think anyone does. Which is the uncomfortable reality of the moment we are all living in today.