Data centres don't provide jobs

The  article points out that last week's much lauded £31bn of technology investments in the UK by US tech firms will in fact offer hardly any jobs for the British workforce.

 Whitehall’s own publications make clear that most of the US cash is not going into new businesses or swanky offices, but datacentres – which are absolutely central to AI, yet barely discussed in British politics. Our government claims they are “the factories powering AI” because in Westminster “factories” is shorthand for production, people, jobs. That is exactly not what datacentres are. They are much closer to hi-tech warehouses full, not of people, but machines. They don’t produce, they store: your data and mine. Nor do they provide much employment.

Look at the planning documents for Blackstone’s new premises outside Blyth in Northumberland: more than 500,000 sq m for up to 10 datacentres. Blackstone estimates that construction will require at peak 1,200 workers for an estimated 10 years.

“Jobs, jobs, jobs,” promised Starmer. Really? Once up and running, the entire vast complex will need only 40 employees for each datacentre. But by then the Labour leader will be long gone. Ask Blackstone what the permanent staff will do, and it’s admirably upfront: these people will not be generals of the new data economy but its lowly foot soldiers, on wages to match – the maintenance, support and security guards. 

Special relationship? There can be no such thing with a snake like Trump