New York needs
sheet metal workers for its data centers
New York is building 4.8 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 York's data centers: about 1,259 to spare.
Will New York 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 York
New York is building 4.8 GW of new AI data centers across 21 sites. On a data center, sheet metal workers build and hang the ductwork that moves cool air through the rooms.
Sheet metal workers — probably not, just for this. The data centers need about 289 sheet metal workers, and New York already has about 1,548 free for this kind of work. Plenty. Still steady work, but no special data-center shortage.
New York has 21 data-center sites in the works, with 4.8 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 York sheet metal workers earn about $73,470 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 York 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 York 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 York
New New York 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 York-specific paid guide.
NEW YORK PROGRAMS
The New York sheet metal workers apprenticeship programs, schools, and licensing path.
The data centers behind these numbers
- 1 Gig Data Center East Fishkill — Donovan Drive Holdings LLC (Treetop Development), East Fishkill (1 GW)
- DOE Brookhaven National Lab AI Data Center — US Dept of Energy / operator TBD, Upton (750 MW)
- STAMP Data Center Campus (Genesee County) — Stream Data Centers, Alabama (500 MW)
- Cayuga HPC Site — TeraWulf, Lansing (400 MW)
- Lake Mariner – Niagara County, NY — Fluidstack, Barker (360 MW)
- TeraWulf Cayuga Site (former coal plant, Lansing) — TeraWulf, Lansing (320 MW)