Wisconsin Construction, Labor Leaders Say Data Centers Will Grow Jobs
Better than the shopping mall craze of the 1970s and 80s?
Work is ongoing at a new Meta data center site Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Beaver Dam, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Labor unions and educators are among those in Wisconsin’s construction industry hailing data center projects as long-term job creators.
While companies pour billions of dollars into data center projects in Wisconsin and across the country to fill the high demand for artificial intelligence, those projects would serve as training grounds for the next generation of construction workers.
Pat Nilsen is executive secretary-treasurer for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, representing nearly 27,000 union members from six states, including Wisconsin.
On WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Nilsen said the boom in data centers and AI technology is essentially guaranteeing long-term work for trades workers like his union.
“Data centers are so big and they need such a workforce that it gives us the opportunity to go out and recruit,” Nilsen said. “The apprentices go through our apprenticeship program, but they also get on-the-job hours that they need.”
His union recently came out in support of a proposed data center in DeForest, saying that project alone would support 5,000 construction sector jobs over the next decade.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the economy will add nearly 110,000 construction jobs over the same period. The anticipated need for workers is also affecting higher education in the state.
Willie Gonwa is the director for civil and architectural engineering and construction management at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He told “Wisconsin Today” the closest comparison to the data center boom would be the shopping mall craze of the 1970s and 80s — but even that doesn’t match this moment.
“Everything else in the construction industry is slowing down,” Gonwa said. “Residential apartment buildings are slowing down, a lot of the office buildings are rising in default rates, which are slowing things down. The only thing that is booming, that is really going on right now, is these data centers.”
Gonwa’s department trains the next generation of civil, architectural and construction management engineers. And Gonwa said every one of those jobs is in high demand for data center construction projects.
He said this semester has the biggest class size for his department of all time. And graduates are leaving his school with essentially 100 percent employment rates.
“The only people who don’t get jobs are the people who don’t want jobs,” Gonwa said of his school’s graduates. “Everyone gets a job because there is so much work to be done.”
Wisconsin construction, labor leaders say data centers will grow long-term jobs was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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