WJS published a piece.

AI data centers create their heaviest near-term labor demand during construction, when campuses, power systems, and supporting infrastructure are built.

Meta's Richland Parish AI buildout recorded 41% private-employment growth and 61% higher average weekly wages during the first year of Meta's major data-center buildout.

Loudoun provides a longer comparison, with 17.4% employment growth since early 2020 while several nearby Washington-area counties were nearly flat or contracted.

Meta expanded the project in July to more than $50B, nearly 10 million square feet and 5GW of compute capacity.

Louisiana officials now expect 7,500 construction jobs and about 1,000 operating jobs, making the build phase much more labor-intensive than steady-state operation.

During the same period, Richland leisure and hospitality employment rose 21.5%, while weekly wages in that sector increased 34%.