# Data-center skilled trades: who fixes power, cooling and fiber

Electricians (critical power), HVAC and liquid-cooling techs, fiber techs, and pipefitters: the skilled trades that build and run critical facilities. IT staff own the servers and software; facility trades own the physical plant.

National pay from BLS OEWS May 2025; outlook from Employment Projections 2025-35.

## Core roles
- [Electrician / critical power](/roles/#electrician): SOC 47-2111 · median $63,190 · +9.2% to 2035
- [HVAC & liquid cooling](/roles/#hvac): SOC 49-9021 · median $61,010 · +10.9%
- [Lineworker (power)](/roles/#lineworker): SOC 49-9051 · median $95,320 · +10.3%
- [Pipefitter](/roles/#pipefitter): SOC 47-2152 · median $63,800 · +6.8%

Fair both sides: trades demand is real; so are local power, water and capacity questions. See /briefs/jobs-vs-power/, /briefs/grid-load/, /briefs/water/.

## More
- [Roles overview](/roles/)
- [How it works](/how-it-works/)
- [Cert checker](/cert-checker/)
- [Facility systems](/facility-systems/)
- [About](/about/)
- Depth: [HighPayingTrades.com](https://highpayingtrades.com/)

## Sources
1. BLS OEWS May 2025 (USDL-26-0725)
2. BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 (USDL-26-1422)

## Who is building AI data centers, and which trades they pull (checked 2026-11-05)

The companies paying for AI data centers are not the ones who wire, pipe and cool them. Hyperscale builds pull four facility trades (electricians, HVAC/R techs, pipefitters and fiber/BICSI installers) and the same projects raise local jobs, power and water questions. Company filings are dated footnotes for who is building and which trades they name; not a jobs promise or rate forecast; no headcount or pay is printed.

- **Microsoft**: said it was on track to invest about $80 billion in FY2025 on AI-enabled datacenters, and that the builds rely on "large numbers of skilled electricians and pipefitters." Source: Microsoft On the Issues blog, Brad Smith, Jan 3, 2025.
- **Meta**: reported Q3 2026 capital expenditures (incl. finance-lease principal) of $34.91 billion and raised full-year 2026 capex outlook to $135-145 billion for AI and infrastructure capacity. Source: Meta Q3 2026 results, Oct 21, 2026.
- **Vertiv**: power and thermal supplier; Jul 2026 capacity release on Tognana chillers; Q3 2026 earnings Oct 28. Trades pulled: electricians (UPS/power), HVAC/R (chillers, CRAH), pipefitters (liquid cooling).

_Company names are construction/operations context only._