Meta is launching America’s Workforce Academy, a tuition-free program that pays trainees and guarantees a job offer to help staff the skilled trades needed for its accelerating AI data center buildout. The company plans to invest $115 million in the program’s first year, partnering with groups including the National Urban League and Associated Builders and Contractors to train fiber technicians, electricians, welders and other roles, with pilot sites in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas. The initiative underscores a tight labor market for data center infrastructure even as communities raise concerns over electricity demand, water usage and noise tied to AI facilities. For Meta, the effort doubles as workforce pipeline and public-relations hedge amid scrutiny of Big Tech’s physical footprint and AI’s uneven impact on jobs.
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