New Mexico needs
carpenters for its data centers
New Mexico is building 2.7 GW of new data centers. Here is how much carpenters work that makes — and why there are not enough carpenters for it.
Carpenters for New Mexico's data centers: short about 79 workers.
Will New Mexico have enough workers?
At the busiest point of the build. Bars to the left mean a shortage (good if you are in that trade). Bars to the right mean workers to spare.
What this means for carpenters in New Mexico
New Mexico is building 2.7 GW of new AI data centers across 3 sites. On a data center, carpenters pour the concrete and frame the building.
Carpenters — worth training up: YES, big shortage. At the busiest point the data centers need about 884 carpenters, but only about 805 of New Mexico's carpenters are free to take it on — the rest are busy with their regular jobs, which do not stop. That leaves New Mexico short about 79. When builders cannot find enough carpenters, the ones already working put in overtime (bigger paychecks), and builders pay to train new people and bring in workers from other states.
New Mexico has 3 data-center sites in the works, with 2.7 GW still to build. That keeps carpenters busy for years: as one job winds down, the next one is starting, so the work does not dry up after a single build.
New Mexico carpenters earn about $52,010 a year on average. Data-center work pays more than that, and when a trade is short, overtime can push experienced carpenters well over $100,000 a year, with health care and a pension through the union.
It is the same across the country: builders cannot find enough skilled workers. The U.S. needs about 140,000 more trade workers by 2030 to build all the data centers, and most builders say hiring is their hardest problem. Microsoft's president has called the shortage of electricians the biggest thing slowing data centers down.
The building work runs a few years, not forever — but New Mexico has enough lined up to keep you busy, and the skills carry over to every other big job in the state. To start, look at the New Mexico carpenters apprenticeship programs. That is the way in. Sources: a national survey of data-center building plans, plus U.S. jobs and pay data.
Get carpenters job updates for New Mexico
New New Mexico data-center sites, tips on getting hired, and pay updates for carpenters.
READ THE NATIONAL CARPENTERS SWITCH GUIDE -- $9
National carpenters training, pay, and licensing context. This is not a New Mexico-specific paid guide.
NEW MEXICO PROGRAMS
The New Mexico carpenters apprenticeship programs, schools, and licensing path.
The data centers behind these numbers
- Stargate Project Jupiter (Doña Ana County, NM) — Stargate / Oracle / OpenAI / Stack, Santa Teresa (2.5 GW)
- Meta Los Lunas AI Expansion (Buildings 9-10) — Meta, Los Lunas (160 MW)
- Mission & Vision Supercomputers (Los Alamos National Laboratory) — DOE NNSA / Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos (70 MW)