Sam Bowman@s8mb
I learned recently that a popular view in government is that there is little value in allowing data centres to be built because they don't create many "good jobs".
2:35 AM · Jun 24, 2026 · 65.7K Views
Government officials reportedly block data center construction over claims that the facilities generate too few direct local jobs
This metric threatens the compute infrastructure needed for AI
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Many users criticized government officials for undervaluing data centers over limited job creation, viewing the stance as shortsighted inability to consider second-order economic effects and industrial decline.
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Tommy Long@tommy5dollar
@s8mb It's amazing how people are incapable of understanding that some outputs are inputs to other things.
1dViews 2.7KLikes 107Bookmarks 1
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Zacharie Riddle@ZacharieRiddle
That is the most interesting messaging challenge for data center projects re: state and local government.
The water use issue is a conspiracy theory, the electricity fears are usually backward (they lead to more generation/more robust infrastructure, so lower cost to ratepayers) but many state and local govs have built all economic development messaging around creating jobs. If the top line number doesn’t say jobs jobs jobs, it’s pure folly, speculating with tax dollars. I don’t think the public actually believe that, and are open to investments with other benefits (property taxes, local development, creating the conditions to compete in the modern economy), but the case hasn’t been made how they stand to benefit, because that would be hard, whereas saying “200 new jobs” is easy.
It leads to a strange incentive mismatch where government entities would prefer to tout a project creating 100 jobs that are already highly automated away or difficult to fill as it is rather than announcing digital infrastructure that would attract several multiples more capital and long-term dynamism to an area, often with an immediate multi-million dollar cash injection into the local coffers plus millions in recurring property tax revenues.
13hViews 876Likes 11Bookmarks 3
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Doom Spiral@DoomSpiralpod
@s8mb The economy is not a jobs programme. It is a cheap goods delivery system.
Jobs are a nice side effect of an economy that delivers what people want for a very low price.
21hViews 1.7KLikes 27
REPLIES8
CentristDad@CentristDad5
@s8mb I’m still to be convinced to having data centres in the UK (as opposed to close by) gives that many economic benefits. Specially if it makes harder to build houses. AI is critical but where the bear metal is does not seem that important
23hViews 1.4KLikes 2
Chris Bayliss@baylissbaghdad
@s8mb I think they imagine them to be a bit like call centres.
1dViews 1.4KLikes 34Bookmarks 1
Richard Greenwood@greenwood_r
@s8mb Complete inability to understand second and third order effects
23hViews 1.6KLikes 33
George Regnery@georgeregnery
@s8mb The same is true with bridges. Barely any jobs in bridges. So we should stick with ferries as they have more jobs.
22hViews 515Likes 28
Samo Burja@SamoBurja
@s8mb @leashless Bleak
17hViews 762Likes 14Bookmarks 1
meh@ItsChillyUpHere
Then they are mental.
Don't think just of the security guards and data center technicians (and why are those not good enough jobs), think of the complex systems of electrical and mechanical engineering that need maintenance, diagnostic, fix.
On top of that the customers need for staffing, etc.
23hViews 2.1KLikes 9
Tim Worstall@worstall
@s8mb Jobs are a cost, not a benefit....
23hViews 299Likes 8Bookmarks 1
Poi@poiThePoi
@s8mb A Gigawatt data center uses as much power as the city of Denver in exchange for about 300 jobs.
If you build the power plants, that's fine.
If you don't build the power plants, were you using the city of Denver?
22hViews 295Likes 7
Indy Singh@indy_singh_uk
@s8mb Ignoring good vs bad. It doesn't create that many permanent jobs. Maybe a 100 or so depending on size.
Loads for initial construction. But you don't want to chase temporary job creation.
So they are right..?
22hViews 333Likes 1
Benedict@carto_graph
@s8mb What do they think counts as a ‘good job’?
23hViews 869Likes 4
Sam Bowman@s8mb
@ZacharieRiddle Completely agree. At least in the US there is a fairly tight feedback loop between approvals and local tax revenues. In Britain local taxes are mostly sent centrally so you don’t even get that benefit from new data centres (or other business property) near you.
13hViews 808Likes 7
Antoine Levy@LevyAntoine
@s8mb Should build them with spoons.
17hViews 437Likes 7
Adam Sykes@AdamSykesWirral
@s8mb Demonstration of complete inability to think beyond first-order effects.
23hViews 375Likes 7
riversorare@riversorare
Most industry and thinkers consider that AI has a 10-20% of killing everyone.
Opposition to data centres is the only thing holding this game of Russian Roulette back.
Funnily enough AI is the only thing we should regulate more. Globally obviously. Locally is pointless.
In the non Doom scenarios its probably in our interest to have our own AI infrastructure here in the UK.
22hViews 660Likes 2
Martin Sharp@Bradninchfellow
@s8mb @K_Niemietz Ever since we stopped reporting the balance of payments on the news our political debate has gone from how we earn our money to just spending it.
22hViews 54Bookmarks 1
Rowland Manthorpe@rowlsmanthorpe
@s8mb This makes it doubly strange that ministers are always erroneously claiming that they will (directly)
1dViews 1.5KLikes 5
Nope nope noping@TomWright165389
@s8mb Jobs are a nessecary evil, not a good in themselves
23hViews 174Likes 2
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