North Dakota needs
pipefitters for its data centers

North Dakota is building 2.5 GW of new AI data centers across 9 sites. On a data center, pipefitters run the pipes and cooling loops that keep the computers from overheating.

Pipefitters — worth training up: YES, big shortage. At the busiest point the data centers need about 533 pipefitters, but only about 412 of North Dakota's pipefitters are free to take it on — the rest are busy with their regular jobs, which do not stop. That leaves North Dakota short about 121. When builders cannot find enough pipefitters, the ones already working put in overtime (bigger paychecks), and builders pay to train new people and bring in workers from other states.

North Dakota has 9 data-center sites in the works, with 2.5 GW still to build. That keeps pipefitters busy for years: as one job winds down, the next one is starting, so the work does not dry up after a single build.

North Dakota pipefitters earn about $62,670 a year on average. Data-center work pays more than that, and when a trade is short, overtime can push experienced pipefitters 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota pipefitters apprenticeship programs. That is the way in. Sources: a national survey of data-center building plans, plus U.S. jobs and pay data.