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Meta just cut 8,000 white-collar jobs to fund its AI infrastructure push. Its next move is to spend $115 million training electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians to build it. The company launched America’s Workforce Academy, a free five-week training program that covers tuition, airfare, lodging and a daily stipend — and guarantees every graduate a job at a Meta data center construction site, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The program launches in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas in partnership with CBRE and the Associated Builders and Contractors. Meta’s need for skilled workers is enormous. Its largest data center, Hyperion in Louisiana, could cover a significant part of Manhattan. The construction industry needs an estimated 349,000 net new workers this year alone to meet demand, and data center construction postings have roughly doubled in the last two years.
Meta received 35,000 applications for a similar fiber-technician program in its first seven days. The message to American workers is clear: the AI economy needs fewer people at desks and more people with drills.