North Dakota needs
sheet metal workers for its data centers

North Dakota is building 2.5 GW of new AI data centers across 9 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, big shortage. At the busiest point the data centers need about 152 sheet metal workers, but only about 95 of North Dakota's sheet metal workers are free to take it on — the rest are busy with their regular jobs, which do not stop. That leaves North Dakota short about 57. When builders cannot find enough sheet metal workers, 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 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.

North Dakota sheet metal workers earn about $78,910 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 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 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.