New Mexico needs
sheet metal workers for its data centers
New Mexico is building 2.7 GW of new data centers. Here is how much sheet metal workers work that makes — and why there are not enough sheet metal workers for it.
Sheet metal workers for New Mexico's data centers: needs almost all the area can spare.
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 sheet metal workers in New Mexico
New Mexico is building 2.7 GW of new AI data centers across 3 sites. On a data center, sheet metal workers build and hang the ductwork that moves cool air through the rooms.
Sheet metal workers — worth training up: YES, tight. The data centers need about 161 sheet metal workers at the busiest point — close to all of the ~162 sheet metal workers New Mexico has free for this kind of work. Expect overtime, steady work, and builders willing to train.
New Mexico has 3 data-center sites in the works, with 2.7 GW still to build. That keeps sheet metal workers 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 sheet metal workers earn about $59,220 a year on average. Data-center work pays more than that, and when a trade is short, overtime can push experienced sheet metal workers 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 sheet metal workers apprenticeship programs. That is the way in. Sources: a national survey of data-center building plans, plus U.S. jobs and pay data.
Get sheet metal workers job updates for New Mexico
New New Mexico data-center sites, tips on getting hired, and pay updates for sheet metal workers.
READ THE NATIONAL SHEET METAL WORKERS SWITCH GUIDE -- $9
National sheet metal workers training, pay, and licensing context. This is not a New Mexico-specific paid guide.
NEW MEXICO PROGRAMS
The New Mexico sheet metal workers 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)