10/03/2025

The Rise of the ‘New-collar’ Workforce

Discover the hidden workforce powering the AI boom

The U.S. is in the middle of a digital infrastructure revolution. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and edge technologies are transforming industries and redefining what’s possible, from national security to personalized medicine. But as AI headlines focus on coders and cutting-edge tech, the real story is unfolding in workshops and job sites where skilled workers are making innovation physically possible.

Unlike the dot-com boom or the mobile era, this AI-driven transformation isn't just about servers and software. It’s about the concrete, steel, cables, power and cooling systems that serve as the nervous system of our digital society. As the demand for hyperscale data centers and energy-intensive computing capacity grows, so does our dependence on a rising class of tradespeople who are building this infrastructure from the ground up. The future of AI doesn't just sit in a data center. It’s built by hands that wire, weld and maintain it.

What's Driving Demand

AI isn’t a theoretical frontier anymore. It’s here, it’s scaling and it’s accelerating the need for purpose-built facilities that can handle the load. The rise in generative AI and machine learning workloads has triggered unprecedented demand for data center capacity across the U.S. According to a 2024 report from McKinsey & Co., U.S. data center power demand is expected to more than triple by 2030—from 25 gigawatts in 2024 to more than 80 gigawatts— underscoring the urgent need to expand our physical infrastructure and the skilled workforce behind it.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.