AI data centers make electricians' wallets full, but some think this job is "selling their soul."

Tech giants pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building AI data centers, driving electrical worker hourly wages up to $59.50, with annual salaries reaching $120k. IBEW estimates that over 300k new electricians will be needed in the next decade. But on community forums like r/electricians, an ethical debate is brewing.
(Background: The US energy regulator FERC orders the six major grid operators to "accelerate" AI data center interconnection applications)
(Additional context: Financial Times reports Meta plans to issue "several billion dollars in new shares" to expand AI infrastructure, following Alphabet's fundraising frenzy)

Table of Contents

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• The wallet is fat, but what about conscience?
• "I'd rather let it be built, but I won't take on this kind of job"
• "Orphan Machines": A collective compromise in dark humor

A typical AI super-large data center requires tens of thousands of electrical wires, hundreds of distribution panels, and several months of continuous construction work. The operation of all this is maintained by a team of workers holding electrical cables. It is their hands that bring the computing power of tech giants to life and keep the servers training large language models running smoothly.

However, as construction sites grow larger and AI investments by tech companies become more staggering, an unspoken question has emerged within the electrician community: Are you at peace with this job?

The wallet is fat, but what about conscience?

On Reddit’s r/electricians, a forum with nearly 500k monthly active users, discussions about "how AI impacts employment" are increasing. Some worry their jobs will accelerate others’ unemployment; others question whether wiring data centers makes them accomplices in destroying local community life.

A Midwestern electrician told WIRED he no longer openly discloses his profession. As a "single, dating person," once he mentions his work, "the conversation quickly turns or ends outright." He recalls several times when the other person directly said, "What you do is scary," and "that was usually the last contact."

Despite this, he actively seeks data center jobs and is even willing to take a pay cut to get in. He sees a pathway upward—after a few months, he has been promoted from a technical role to a management position.

"This is likely to be the mainstream in the future. If you can't beat it, join it."

"I'd rather let it be built, but I won't take on this kind of job"

But not everyone makes the same choice. Electrician Ryan told WIRED he has never, and possibly will never, take on data center projects.

He distrusts companies operating under the current political environment, believing Elon Musk and Palantir CEO Alex Karp are "at best just suspicious." To him, the flow of capital in the AI industry looks more like "four or five companies transferring money in a closed loop," and the bubble will burst sooner or later.

As a member of IBEW, Ryan has the right to refuse union-distributed jobs. When small data center projects occasionally appear, he chooses to avoid them. But he adds pragmatically, "If it’s destined to be built, I’d rather let it go through the union."

Electrician Jesse believes that if the construction of data centers "significantly impacts the quality of life in the local community," the issue itself is indeed absurd. But he thinks the solution lies in contacting state and local governments to apply pressure, rather than pointing fingers at fellow electricians who need the income.

"Orphan Machines": A collective compromise in dark humor

Another electrician’s metaphor cuts to the core of this debate: "If work is scarce, even if a company plans to build a factory that crushes orphans, all you see are a bunch of people shrugging and emotionlessly hoping for double overtime pay. I really dislike that attitude."

A trainee admitted that in his career development group, various degrees of "cutting" are used to rationalize the work itself, ultimately ending with the same thought: "It’s going to be built eventually anyway, so I might as well make this money."

Meta recently announced a skills training academy plan, and Google pledged to invest $50 million to support vocational training. In March, IBEW issued "Data Center Principles," asserting that union labor is "a necessary condition for the future of AI." On the policy front, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has ordered the six major grid operators to accelerate AI data center interconnection applications, meaning infrastructure expansion will only speed up, not slow down.

The hourly wage figures are there, and the retirement wave creating gaps is evident. The electrician community’s debate may not change the course of any power line. But when a job makes someone hesitant to mention it on a date, the phrase "a job is just a job" no longer seems so self-evident.