Guest post by Nature Forward volunteer Sheila Igoe…if you’d like to research, write, and edit educational materials like this, reach out!
Photo via The Cyber Express
Among the many controversies surrounding data center construction is the question of jobs–how many and what kind will be created during construction and operational periods? Empirical evidence shows that data centers create more temporary than permanent positions and compete for land with other industries that would create more jobs, and they have yet to be transparent about these concerns.
Sage policy group for the Maryland Tech Council attempted to answer this question in an August 2025 study which states that “construction of a typical 800,000 square foot data center supports over 5,000 statewide jobs, including both direct and secondary activity, and that, once operational, that data center will support nearly 500 permanent jobs [which equates to 1 job per 1,600 square feet], and those jobs will earn upwards of $31 million in annual compensation ” (p. 7)
Alternatively, a 2024 study prepared by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), suggests data centers support far fewer permanent jobs. The study found that while the data center industry is estimated to create tens of thousands of jobs, these positions are mainly in construction, which are temporary. “Several data center representatives indicated that a typical 250,000-square-foot data center may have approximately 50 full-time workers [which equates to 1 job per 5000 square feet], about half of which are contract workers” (p. 13). The study further concluded that the number of jobs per square foot is much lower for data centers than competing uses of the same land.
Recently, Nature Forward’s Conservation Advocates group reached out to several employees at the Maryland Department of Labor and Department of Commerce to determine if either agency had information that would help to shed light on the numbers and types of jobs that Maryland data centers have created or could be expected to create. Specifically, we were seeking information to address the following questions:
- What are the latest statistics on the total number of data center jobs in Maryland and how many jobs are there projected to be in 5 years?
- In which zip codes are data center jobs located and how many jobs are there per zip code?
- How many data center jobs are full time versus part time?
- How many data center jobs are permanent versus temporary?
- How long are temporary workers typically employed at Maryland data centers?
- What are the salaries associated with the various job titles at Maryland data centers?
- How many and which of the permanent jobs at data centers include health care, retirement plans and other job benefits?
The representatives that we spoke to or corresponded with were not aware of any such information and suggested that we file a Maryland Public Information Act request if we had any further questions.
Given the difficulty Nature Forward experienced obtaining job data from the State of Maryland, the Maryland General Assembly’s December 12, 2025, vote to override the Governor’s veto of the Data Center Study Bill was welcome news. The Data Center Study Bill requires, among other things, an assessment of the potential economic and fiscal impacts of the data center industry in the State, including an evaluation of the jobs likely to be created through the construction and operation of data centers.
If these hyper scaled data centers are approved to be constructed in Maryland, lawmakers need to ensure that employees of these data centers receive a fair share of the economic benefits. Mandating free health insurance, stock options, and funds for childcare would help ensure that the employees and their families receive comparable benefits to the state tax revenue and owner profit of these data centers. If you are a Maryland resident, consider joining us at our Lobby Day on March 11, 2026 to speak to your representative and express your support for these worker protections
